







COPYRIGHT DEPOSm 














The Divine Program 


Rev. G. W. Griffith 




Tke Divine Program 

A 7i Ijiterpretatioii of the 

DIVINE METHOD OF REDEMPTION 

arid of the 

NATURE AND NURTURE OF THE 
CHRISTIAN LIFE 


V 



By 

REV. G. W. GRIFFITH 

Editor of 

The Light and Life Sunday School Literature and 
Arnold's Practical Sunday School 
Lesson Commentary 


Introduction by 

Bishop William Pearce 



W. B. ROSE, Publisher 
i 132 Washington Boulevard 
Chicago, Illinois 

1923 



Copyright, 1923 

BY 

G. W. GRIFFITH 


MAY 11 *23 


©Cl A704527 


I 


PREFACE 


The Bible is the narration of one slowly un¬ 
folding story—the relation of God and man. 
It is not “man’s best word about himself and 
God, but God’s best word about Himself and 
man.” It is not a record of man’s ceaseless 
search for God and his mistaken ideas about 
the character and will of God, finally culminat¬ 
ing in a truer conception of his nature and 
purposes, but it is a record of God’s original 
perfect creation, of man’s fall, of God’s all- 
inclusive program for redemption, and the 
perfect revelation of Himself and His will to 
man. Therefore, it has but one clearly defined 
and cumulative program—the work of redemp¬ 
tion. It has but one central character and 
theme—the person and work of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. 

Fully believing that the Bible does not “con¬ 
tain the word of God; ’ ’ but that it is the word 
of God, my aim has been to give a reverent ex¬ 
planation of this program in its relation to the 
divine method of redemption, and to the na¬ 
ture, training, and expression of the spiritual 

5 


PREFACE 


life, for the guidance and instruction of Bible 
teachers and students. It is not designed as a 
work of theology, nor as a text on systematic 
Bible study, but—an interpretation in an out¬ 
line form. As knowledge of content is val¬ 
uable in proportion as it is expressed in life, 
the second part of the book is devoted to the 
teaching problem. The spiritual life must be 
received before it can be trained or expressed 
—hence stress is placed upon the nature of the 
spiritual life, as well as its expression. 

By my request, my wife, Mrs. Lillian B. 
Griffith, prepared Chapters Three, Four and 
Five of Part II, a task for which her years of 
training and experience as a teacher peculiarly 
fitted her. 

The book is now presented to teachers and 
students of the inspired Word with the prayer 
that it may be used by the Holy Spirit to add 
to the number of those workmen who need 
“not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word 
of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). 

G. W. Griffith. 


6 


INTRODUCTION 


Prom the introductory words of this book of 
two main divisions to the last burning question 
there is a striking originality, precision, 
strength, and purity of diction. It is indeed a 
treasury of information on the subjects of 
which it treats, the value of which will be ap¬ 
preciated highly through all the coming years. 

It is not marred by mere verbal scholastic 
adventure, but is adorned with spiritual schol¬ 
arship and literary good taste. Uncontrover- 
sial in its cast, it yet elucidates in attractive 
setting the doctrines of the divine Word. 

The reader will not be troubled with looking 
through multiplied pages to find a striking 
thought, nor will he be disappointed as by the 
dry didactic. There is not a tame line, not a 
mediocre touch, in the entire volume. Method 
is steeped in the spiritual and the spiritual 
fused into most helpful method. It is a classic, 
clear and warm as sunlight, and stands out in 
lofty contrast to the pseudo-ameliorative 
schemes of the worldly wise. 

The author is no novice in literature’s dif- 


7 


INTRODUCTION 


ficult paths, but here touches with a master 
hand the greatest of all themes—God; His cre¬ 
ative acts; His program of salvation; the re¬ 
quirements of His holy law; the church of 
Christ; the certainty of His final triumph over 
Satan, sin, and the world; the glory of the com¬ 
ing kingdom. 

Too often the divine Word is falsely lugged 
into the support of a foolish fad or cult, or tor¬ 
tured into an endorsement of a ruinous doc¬ 
trine and practise. Here one is struck with 
the absolute aptness of the voluminous Scrip¬ 
ture applications. 

The cross of Christ, that “single and soli¬ 
tary monument,” is the central idea in this 
book, as in the Scriptures. 

William Pearce. 


8 


CONTENTS 

PART I 

THE DIVINE PROGRAM 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. In the Beginning. 13 

II. The Program and Redemption . 25 

III. The Program and the Kingdom. 35 

IV. The Kingdom and the Church. 49 

V. The Program and the Mystery. 63 

VI. The Program in its Saving Processes.. 75 

VII. The Program in its Saving Processes— 

Continued. 87 

VIII. The Program and the Present Age. 99 

IX. The Program and Evangelization . Ill 

X. The Program in its Consummation.... 123 


9 










CONTENTS 

PART II 

THE NATURE AND NURTURE OF THE 
CHRISTIAN LIFE 

I. Christ and the Social Order. 137 

II. Prophets and Teachers. 149 

III. Earliest Childhood. 161 

IV. The Primary Age. 175 

V. The Junior and Intermediate Age. 187 

VI. Sonship. 199 

VII. Spiritual Manhood. 211 

VIII. Feeding the Spiritual Life. 223 

IX. Christian Ethics. 233 

X. The Transferred Glory. 245 


10 


v 












Part I 

THE DIVINE PROGRAM 

as related to the 

REDEMPTION OF THE RACE 


11 


This then is the first lesson of the Bible; that at 
the root and origin of all this vast material uni¬ 
verse, before whose laws we are crushed as the 
moth, there abides a living conscious Spirit, who 
wills and knows and fashions all things. The be¬ 
lief of this changes for us the whole face of nature, 
and, instead of a chill, impersonal world of forces 
to which no appeal can be made, and in ivhich mat¬ 
ter is supreme, gives us the home of a Father. If 
you are yourself but a particle of a huge and uncon¬ 
scious universe—a particle which, like a flake of 
foam, or a drop of rain, or a gnat, or a beetle, lasts 
its brief space and then yields up its substance to 
be moulded into some new creation; if there is no 
power that understands you and sympathizes with 
you and makes provision for your instincts, your as¬ 
pirations, your capabilities; if man is himself the 
highest intelligence, and if all things are the pur¬ 
poseless result of physical forces; if, in short, there 
is no God, no consciousness at the beginning as at 
the end of all things, then nothing can be more mel¬ 
ancholy than our position... .But, God be thanked, 
He has revealed Himself to us; has given us in the 
harmonious and progressive movement of all around 
us, sufficient indication that, even in the material 
world, intelligence and purpose reign; an indication 
ichich becomes immensely clearer as we pass into 
the world of man; and which, in presence of the 
person and life of Christ attains the brightness of 
a couviction which illuminates all besides. — Princi¬ 
pal Marcus Dods. 


12 


CHAPTER I 


IN THE BEGINNING 

The Problem. The race is face to face with 
three great facts. 

1. The first is the universe of which this 
globe is so small a part. Nebulae, planets and 
stellar systems of bewildering number and in¬ 
conceivable magnitude stretch in every direc¬ 
tion to interminable distances. The planet on 
which we live, though one of the smallest, is an 
inexhaustible storehouse of discovered and un¬ 
discovered resources, mysterious forces, and 
utilitarian products. The atmosphere in which 
it is enveloped is tremulous with latent powers, 
while the depths within are safe deposit vaults 
containing unclassified, but priceless treasures. 

2. Man himself is a self-realized fact. He 
is. Whence did he come? Whither is he go¬ 
ing? From what source did he derive his in¬ 
tellectual power, his capacity for suffering and 
happiness, and his unique and remarkable body 
with its versatility and adaptability? 

3. Finally, there is the book—the Bible. It 

13 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


is here. It has been here for centuries. Its 
central theme has been a beacon star of hope. 
Its teachings have transformed nations. It is 
to-day the most eagerly sought after and the 
most widely read book in the world. From 
whence did it come ? Why is it here ? 

The Answer. ‘ ‘ In the beginning God. ’ ’ ‘ ‘ In 
the beginning was the Word, and the Word 
was with God, and the Word was God.” “God, 
having of old time spoken unto the fathers in 
the prophets by divers portions and in divers 
manners, hath at the end of these days spoken 
unto us in His Son.” “Given the universe, 
given human life, given the whole scheme of 
things as now known to us, to account for 
them, no other solution so fully satisfies my in¬ 
telligence and my heart as the solution—God. ’’ 
—Joseph Parker. 

Given an intricate lock to open and a bunch 
of keys, it is scientific as well as common sense 
to say that, when a key is found which perfect¬ 
ly fits the lock and opens it without effort, the 
key and the lock were made for each other. The 
riddle of the universe, and the origin, nature 
and destiny of man find their solution in the 
Bible. The finite can not prove the infinite; 
but the infinite can reveal itself to the finite. 

14 


IN THE BEGINNING 


The Bible is this revelation and it so clearly 
and simply and naturally opens the lock that it 
is self-evident that it is the key, and the revela¬ 
tion of God to man. 

The Being of God. The first title ascribed to 
the divine being is the Hebrew word trans¬ 
lated Elohim, It means “the self-existent 
one.” After the creation of man another word 
is used, translated Jehovah, and means, “the 
self-existent one who reveals Himself.” “It 
was God (Elohim) who said, ‘Let us make man 
in our image’ (Gen. 1:26) ; but when man, as 
in the second chapter of Genesis, is to fill the 
rtcene and become dominant over creation, it is 
the Lord God (Jehovah Elohim) who acts. 
This clearly indicates a special relation of 
deity, in His Jehovah character, to man, and all 
Scripture emphasizes this.” 

God is a Person. He possesses to an infinite 
degree the three essential elements of personal¬ 
ity—reasoning, willing, and feeling. As we 
have never seen a human soul and can know 
what a person is only by what he does and says, 
so, not having seen God, yet we may know Him 
by His manifestations. These are discovered 
in nature, in His providences, and in the revela¬ 
tion of His word culminating in the incarna- 

15 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


tion of man than the satisfaction of personal¬ 
ity. God is eternally perfect; therefore He is 
perfectly self-sufficient. He creates because 
He wills, not because He must. This higher 
motive is most admirably stated by Dr. Curtis 
in his able work, The Christian Faith: ‘ ‘ The 
final universe is to manifest, in finite measure, 
the entirety of God’s life. To do so much, the 
final universe must express, not merely the fact 
of God’s moral love, but additionally the fact 
that this divine love is a satisfied moral love. 
What do I mean by this ? I mean that the final 
universe will come to climax in perfect saint¬ 
hood—in personal moral creatures who have, 
in their freedom, been made perfect in storm 
and pain and test. Freedom was granted them 
simply because there is no other process under 
which a finite being can become morally like 
God. Because of this climax of sainthood, 
every other feature of the final universe takes 
on its last touch of significance. What, then, is 
God’s relation to this sainthood ? That of Cre¬ 
ator with the motive of a satisfied love. For¬ 
ever will it be evident that these saints were 
created, not because God needed them to mod¬ 
erate His own craving for love; but because, 
out of the eternal fulness of a satisfied love, 

18 


IN THE BEGINNING 


God wanted them to bring their little cups of 
finite possibility and fill them with everlasting 
joy out of His shoreless ocean. Thus the very 
law of expression itself becomes at last more 
than merely personal, even more than merely 
personal and moral—it becomes absolutely 
altruistic. ’ ’ 

God and the Universe. By universe is meant 
the aggregate of all existing things. Practically 
speaking there is a universe of being, a uni¬ 
verse of space, and a universe of duration. The 
first embraces God and all other beings; the 
second, all solar and stellar systems; the third, 
time and eternity. 

At the head of this threefold universe is God. 
In His supreme sovereignty He manifests Him¬ 
self in three Persons: Father, Son and Holy 
Spirit; not three gods, but one. God the Fa¬ 
ther is sovereign over beings, space, and dura¬ 
tion (Neh. 9:6; Isa. 42:5; Rev. 4:11; Psa. 
145:10-18). God the Son is sovereign over be¬ 
ings, space, and duration, but specifically crea¬ 
tion and redemption (John 1:1; Col. 1:16; 
Heb. 1:1-12). God the Holy Spirit is sover¬ 
eign over beings, space, and duration, but spe¬ 
cifically is the author and conserver of physical 
and spiritual life (Gen. 1:2; Isa. 63:10; Acts 

19 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 

5:3,4; Heb. 9:14; Rom. 8:11; 1 Pet. 3:18; 
1 Cor. 12:15). 

In the department of being there is a vast, 
unnumbered host of angelic intelligences. 
These are divided into orders as principalities, 
powers, authorities, thrones, dominions, and 
archangels. As will be noted later there is now 
a host of powers, principalities, and fallen an¬ 
gels, headed by Satan, which inhabit the lower 
world. Last of all, but not least, stands man, 
created in the image of God and given domin¬ 
ion over the earth. 

The Question of Authority. While God rules 
in sovereign authority over the universe, He 
also exercises moral dominion by virtue of His 
wisdom and infinite holiness. This moral do¬ 
minion is exercised over all the spiritual or¬ 
ders, and, up to some definite point in the past, 
was universal. In His infinite wisdom and for 
His pleasure and glory, God elected to share 
the glory of universal rulership and the felicity 
of holy fellowship with a race endowed with 
His own likeness of personality and moral char¬ 
acter. 

As the head and type of this race to be, He 
placed the second Person of the trinity in the 
positional relation of Sonship by an eternal act 

20 


IN THE BEGINNING 


so unique that He could consistently say, 
“Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten 
thee” (Psa. 2:7). In this unique relationship 
as the only begotten of the Father (John 1: 
14), He was made heir, creator, and conserver 
of all things (Heb. 1:6), and the first-begotten 
of many sons whom He was predestined to 
bring to glory (1 Pet. 1:20; Heb. 2:10). 

Perfect happiness in the universe of being is 
found only in obedience to God’s Son, for all 
power has been committed to Him (Matt. 28: 
18; John 3:35; 5:22; 1 Pet. 3 : 22). Defiance 
of this authority by any being endowed with 
self-choice is revolutionary and produces a 
catastrophe in the universe. 

The Catastrophe. The Bible clearly teaches 
a probationary test and trial of pre-existent 
spiritual intelligences of a high order (Isa. 14: 
12-15; Ezek. 28:13-15; John 8:44; Jude 6; 
Rev. 12:7-9). With the establishment of the 
throne of the only begotten Son was issued the 
edict, “Let all the angels of God worship him” 
(Heb. 1:6). Lucifer, one of the three arch¬ 
angels, called the day-star, the one full of wis¬ 
dom, the one perfect in beauty, the anointed 
cherub, looked with envious eyes upon this 
throne, aspired to its occupancy and position 

21 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 

of power and glory, and his ‘ ‘ I will ’ ’ five times 
repeated (Isa. 14:13,14; Ezek. 28:12-19), was 
the genesis of sin. This archangel became an 
arch-rebel and the leader of those who followed 
him in his rebellion. So tremendous was the 
effect of this act of defiance of God and His 
Son that heaven was thrown into the pandemo¬ 
nium of war until the fallen archangel was cast 
out and fell like lightning into the abyss of 
darkness (Luke 10:18). 

Many careful Bible students believe that this 
caused a terrific cataclysm in the universe of 
space as well as being, and that Gen. 1:2 de¬ 
scribes the chaos which reigned as the result of 
the judgment following the entrance of sin 
into the universe. At any rate, Satan became 
the leader of the orders of principalities and 
powers and rulers and wicked spirits (Eph. 6: 
12) which foster eternal enmity against God 
and His obedient creatures in the universe of 
being. 

In harmony with His original plan, God cre¬ 
ated man * in His own likeness and image, 
placed him upon the renewed, beautified earth, 
and gave him dominion under moral obligation. 
Satan accomplished his overthrow by persuad¬ 
ing him to doubt and disobey God (Gen. 3: 

22 


IN THE BEGINNING 


1-6). This brought sin and death into the world 
(Rom. 5:12-14), humanity becoming the cap¬ 
tives of Satan (John 13:16; 2 Tim. 2:26), 
who, in turn, became the god of this world (2 
Cor. 4:4), the prince of this world (John 12: 
31). and the deceiver of this world (Rev. 12 :9). 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

How clo the facts—the universe, man, and the Bi¬ 
ble—prove that God is a personal being? Why did 
God create man? Explain the universal sweep of 
God’s authority. What is the condition of universal 
peace and happiness? What was the cause and ex¬ 
tent of the moral catastrophe which brought war 
and woe i-nto the universe? To what extent are you 
meeting the condition that brings universal peace 
and happiness? 


23 


Man calls sin an accident, God calls it an abom¬ 
ination. Man calls it a blunder , God calls it a blind¬ 
ness. Man calls it a chance, God calls it a choice. 
Man calls it a defect, God calls it a disease. Man 
calls it an error, God calls it an enormity. Man 
calls it a fascination, God calls it a fatality. Man 
calls it an heredity, God calls it a habit. Man calls 
it an incident, God calls it an inclination. Man 
calls it an infirmity, God calls it an iniquity. Man 
calls it a luxury, God calls it a leprosy. Man calls 
it a liberty , God calls it a lawlessness. Man calls it 
a mistake, God calls it a madness. Man calls it a 
peccadillo , God calls it a poison. Man calls it a re¬ 
lapse, God calls it a rebellion. Man calls it a slip, 
God calls it a suicide. Man calls it a trifle, God 
calls it a tragedy. Man calls it a thoughtlessness, 
God calls it a thraldom. Man calls it a iveakness, 
God calls it a wickedness. — Rev. J. Gregory Mantle. 


24 


CHAPTER II 


THE PROGRAM AND REDEMPTION 

The fact of a prehistoric election or choice is 
most clearly taught in the Bible. The succes¬ 
sive steps in the creative process were prepara¬ 
tory to a superlative consummation. The ma¬ 
terial creation was a means to an end. This 
end is defined as God’s ‘ ‘ choice, ’ ’ His ‘ ‘ eternal 
purpose,” “election,” “predestination,” etc. 
Hence, there was a prehistoric Person, a pre¬ 
historic purpose, and a prehistoric plan. 

The Prehistoric Person. Jesus Christ was be¬ 
fore all things (Col 1:16, 17; John 1:3; Heb. 
1:2, 10). He was co-existent with the Father 
before the creation (John 17:5). He was Elo- 
him—the self-existent One (John 8:58). He 
was the Lord from heaven (1 Cor. 15:47). He 
was from the everlastings (Micah 5:2). He 
was God (Phil. 2:6). 

The Prehistoric Purpose. Paul clearly teaches 
that the race is embraced in a divine calling, 
that this calling is according to the divine pur¬ 
pose, that this purpose is based upon fore- 

25 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


knowledge, that this foreknowledge results in 
predestination having for its supreme objective 
the conformation of the called ones to the im¬ 
age of the Son (Rom. 8 : 28, 29). This purpose 
is eternal (Eph. 3:11). The creation of the 
new race was the original method through 
which this purpose was to be accomplished and 
a race of holy sons secured through the test of 
self-willing probation and the disciplinary per¬ 
fection of character. Hence, God said, ‘ ‘ Let us 
make man in our image, after our likeness” 
(Gen. 1:26). 

The Prehistoric Plan. The same divine fore¬ 
knowledge which was expressed in the eternal 
purpose, provided for the possibility of the 
failure of the ideal plan of securing a holy race 
through creation, by providing prospective re¬ 
demption. God’s purpose in redemption is the 
same as in creation—a race of holy sons. Hence, 
redemption was in the eternal purpose (Eph. 
3:11). The race was chosen to salvation from 
the beginning (2 Thess. 2 :13; 2 Tim. 1:9). In 
harmony with the eternal purpose the prehis¬ 
toric Person was appointed to a redemptive 
work before the foundation of the world (1 Pet. 
1:19, 20). Prom the same dateless past the 
race to be was predestinated to the adoption of 

26 


THE PROGRAM AND REDEMPTION 


sons through the redemption to be provided by, 
and through, the prehistoric choice made in 
Christ (Eph. 1:4-7). Not in the sense of ne¬ 
cessity, but as a previewed contingency born in 
the passion of an infinite love, in the case of a 
possible failure on the part of the candidates, 
redemption was prospectively provided on 
such a scale and with such a manifestation of 
the character of God as to augment the glory 
of His character and dignify His administra¬ 
tion (note carefully and thoughtfully Rom. 8: 
28-30). 

The Essence of Sin. God calls sin the trans- 

$ 

gression of the law. Granting that He is the 
sovereign of the universe, infinite in wisdom, 
justice and truth, the expression of His will 
necessarily constitutes the law of right. It is 
the source of authority. Sin is defiance of this 
authority. Defiance of law in the social field is 
called anarchy, rebellion, Bolshevism. In the 
moral field God calls it sin. 

In the dateless past, through all the universe 
of being and space and duration, there was not 
the slightest suggestion of lack of harmony 
with the sovereign authority of God. In that 
glory which Christ had with His Father be¬ 
fore the world was, there was not a discordant 

27 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


note. With the fall of the archangel, lawless¬ 
ness was projected into the universe. With the 
fall of man the struggle between the authority 
of God and Satan was transferred to earth. In 
this moral field in which man functions as a 
self-willing agent, there are two irreconcilably 
antagonistic forces—the kingdom of God and 
the kingdom of Satan. This inevitable antag¬ 
onism constitutes the one and only real “war 
of the worlds.’’ 

Redemption in Promise and Prophecy. Re¬ 
demption is defined as the act of redeeming or 
the state of being redeemed. In religion it 
predicates sin. In the Bible it is the pivot 
around which swings all the action of Old Tes¬ 
tament history and is the magic button which 
opens the door of every type and symbol and 
prophecy. 

In placing man under a moral administra¬ 
tion and with the view of proving him for 
rulership in a heavenly order of sonship, God 
formulated a covenant with him embracing the 
following points: To replenish the earth with 
the new order; to subdue the earth to human 
uses; to have dominion over the animal crea¬ 
tion; to abstain from eating of the tree of 
knowledge of good and evil, the penalty im- 

28 


THE PROGRAM AND REDEMPTION 


posed for disobedience being death (Gen. 1: 
28-2:17). The fall through sin brought a curse 
upon the ground, a changed state for the wo¬ 
man, labor and sorrow for the man, death— 
physically, spiritually, and eternally—the last 
being suspended and probation renewed by the 
promise of a Redeemer (Gen. 3:15). 

This promise of a Redeemer was renewed in 
the Abrahamic covenant (Gen. 12:1-3). That 
this covenant was not nationalistic only, but 
redemptive in scope is proved by Luke 1:72- 
75. This promise was confirmed to David (2 
Sam. 7:8-17). This promise of redemption 
was the theme of the major and minor proph¬ 
ets. It was stamped upon the civil, ceremonial, 
and moral precepts of the Hebrews. The law 
of double reference reveals this in a study of 
the biography of the patriarchs, the bondage in 
Egypt and the exodus, the tabernacle, the 
whole system of the priesthood, law of sacri¬ 
fices, the national feasts, etc. 

Representative and intensely significant of 
this teaching through symbolism is redemption 
by the kinsman-Redeemer. In the loss of an 
inheritance (Lev. 25:1-34), the loss of personal 
liberty (Lev. 25:35-55), or of murder or loss 
of life (Num. 35), redemption was possible 

29 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


through a kinsman. Through sin man lost his 
inheritance, became a slave of Satan, being led 
captive by him at his will, and the race, created 
deathless, was slain by him who was a mur¬ 
derer from the beginning. But the “seed of 
the woman, ’ ’ the elder Brother of the race, God 
manifest in the flesh, pursued the murderer 
and “through death destroyed him that had 
the power of death,” lifted the mortgage on 
the inheritance ready for the year of jubilee 
and made possible the transformation of the 
slaves of sin and death into the glorious liberty 
of the children of God (Gal. 3:13, 14; 4:4, 5). 

Jesus was this Redeemer. He came to seek 
and to save the lost (Luke 19:10). His name 
expressed His work—a Savior (Matt. 1:21). 
He emphatically stated that He would save, 
not through His life nor by the power of His 
example, but through His death (John 3:14, 
15; 12:32, 33). He declared He came to give 
His life a ransom for many (Matt. 20: 28). He 
asserted He was the living bread, that this 
bread was His flesh, which He gave for the life 
of the world (John 6: 51). He was the Good 
Shepherd giving His life for the sheep (John 
19:11-15). He instituted the Lord’s Supper 
as a memorial of His death in its saving efficacy 

30 


THE PROGRAM AND REDEMPTION 

(Matt. 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22 : 20). He 
opened the understanding of His disciples to 
see that the prophecies were fulfilled in His 
death and resurrection, and because of this, the 
message of the men to whom the preaching of 
the gospel was committed as His successors was 
to be repentance and remission of sins (Luke 
24:25-27, 45-48). 

The Scope of Redemption. Redemption must 
sweep as far as the reach of sin. It is not by 
price only; it must be by power as well. The 
slave must not only be bought in the market 
(Gr., agorazo ), but bought out of the market 
(Gr., exagorazo ). He is to be set free (Gr., 
lutroo —to loose). This is the revelation to man. 
He is to be made free from sin as a personal 
experience. “But now being made free from 
sin and become servants to God, ye have your 
fruit unto sanctification, and the end eternal 
life” (Rom. 6:22). 

But the slave was not to be released only; the 
inheritance must be restored. The kinsman- 
Redeemer of the race is its Priest-King. The 
law of double reference described the coming 
of the Redeemer in a twofold character—a 
coming to suffering and a coming to glory; a 
as the Lamb of God and a coming as 

31 


coming 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


King; a coming as One dying for men and a 
coming as a Judge of men. 

This seemingly conflicting message was a 
mystery to the prophets. It is even yet a mys¬ 
tery to the devout Hebrew upon whose mind 
rests the veil of darkness, but it was made clear 
by Christ when He came, and afterwards by 
His apostles. There are two advents of the 
kinsman-Redeemer. The first was His coming 
to pay the price of redemption and to make 
that price effective in loosing sin’s prisoners 
through the Holy Spirit. The second is yet fu¬ 
ture and is to be in power in the year of the 
world’s jubilee. It will mark the times of the 
restitution of all things. It will be the coming 
of the King to reign. It is for that coming and 
for that hour that the whole creation travaileth 
in pain waiting for the final redemption of 
the purchased possession (Rom. 8:17-23; Eph. 
1:14). 

What, then, is the scope of redemption? It 
is condensed into one swift, all-embracing state¬ 
ment by Paul. This statement covers redemp¬ 
tion by price and by power. It stretches from 
its source in the grace of God to the finish of 
the work of the Redeemer as King. It includes 
both advents. It is the working program of 

32 


THE PROGRAM AND REDEMPTION 


God the Father. Here it is: “ For the grace of 
God hath appeared, bringing salvation to all 
men, instructing us, to the intent that, denying 
ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live 
soberly and righteously and godly in this pres¬ 
ent world (age) ; looking for the blessed hope 
and appearing of the glory of the great God 
and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave him¬ 
self for us, that he might redeem us from all in¬ 
iquity, and purify unto himself a people for 
his own possession, zealous of good works” 
(Titus 2:11-14). 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

Define the prehistoric Person, purpose, and plan. 
What is sin? What is God’s method in accomplish¬ 
ing His purpose? Illustrate how redemption is pre¬ 
figured in the Old Testament. Cite Scriptures to 
prove that Jesus is the Redeemer. What is the 
scope of redemption? How does the vicarious suf¬ 
fering of Christ differ from ours? How is God’s 
redemptive scheme being realized in your life? 


33 


There are, as every artist knows, certain neces¬ 
sary elements for drawing a picture aright, and for 
appreciating a picture that is correctly drawn. First 
is the base line on which the picture is constructed; 
then the line of the horizon where earth and sky 
meet, and then as the key to the whole, the point 
of sight. There are similar necessities in Bible per¬ 
spective. What is the base line of the Bible? It is 
sin. What is the horizon line of the Bible? It is 
holiness. That is where earth and heaven meet. 
But on that horizon line there is only one point of 
sight. It is where God and man meet, in Christ, in 
ivhom alone holiness can be reached. Look at that 
landscape painting 1 At the top of the picture you 
have the sky, which seems to appi'oacli nearer and 
nearer to the earth, as it falls aicay to the back¬ 
ground, descending and descending until it touches 
it on the distant horizon. Again, beginning at the 
base line, the foreground seems to ascend and as¬ 
cend until it reaches the horizon and meets the sky. 
From high heaven, God comes doivn to meet man 
upon the earth. From the base of sin man is borne 
upward to meet his God. The place of meeting is 
in Christ. There all the lines of faith and hope 
converge. il There is salvation in no other.”—The 
Biblical Illustrator. 


34 


CHAPTER III 


THE PROGRAM AND THE KINGDOM 

It must be kept in mind that the crux of the 
struggle between God and Satan is at the point 
of sovereign authority. In every life stands a 
Mt. Carmel and a stern Elijah commanding, 
Choose. To every man comes a vision, re¬ 
stricted or unlimited, terminating in an inevi¬ 
table choice between submission to Satan or 
submission to God. The outstanding truth of 
the Bible is that God has spoken to man. Man 
must believe what the God of heaven says or 
believe what the god of this world says. There 
is no other alternative. 

The Divine Sovereign. The Bible emphati¬ 
cally teaches the sovereignty of God (Gen. 14: 
18-22; Deut. 4:39; 10:17; 1 Chron. 29:11,12; 
Neh. 9:6; Jer. 27 : 5, 6; Dan. 4: 33-35). This 
sovereignty is exercised as a kingdom (Psa. 11: 
4; 93:2; Isa. 66:1; Dan. 4:34; Matt. 5:34; 
Acts 7:49; Rev. 4:8,9). This kingly sover¬ 
eignty extends over the entire universe of be¬ 
ing and space and duration (Psa. 145:11; Isa. 

35 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


24: 23; 37: 16; Dan. 4: 3, 17; 6: 26; Matt. 

8 : 11 ). 

The Kingdom of God. In Scripture phrase¬ 
ology by the kingdom of God is meant His uni¬ 
versal, absolute and everlasting dominion as 
described above. This dominion has been from 
eternity and will be perpetuated through eter¬ 
nities to come (Psa. 90:1-4; 102:24-27; Isa. 
40:28; Jer. 10:10; 1 Tim. 1:17). 

As already noted, in the past eternities this 
kingdom was undivided in extent, unrestricted 
in its scope, and unopposed in its administra¬ 
tion. At some future point all beings, all 
events, all creation will express one universal 
truth—GOD PULES. In other words the di¬ 
vine program anticipates the elimination of 
any and every principle or being which, by na¬ 
ture or expression, will be antagonistic to the 
divine will (Rev. 19:6). 

In that portion of duration called time, and 
in that part of the universe of being and space 
called the earth, the principles of the kingdom 
of God are questioned, and its sovereign au¬ 
thority disputed by Satan and a sinning race. 
Inasmuch as the regnant right of God is at 
stake, and specifically the regnant right of God 
the Son, the method through which the univer- 

36 


THE PROGRAM AND THE KINGDOM 


sal kingdom of God is to be restored and the di¬ 
vine administration vindicated must be regnant 
in principle, and, because of sin, redemptive in 
nature. 

The Kingdom Program. The unfolding of 
the kingdom program began with the creation 
of man. He was given dominion over creation 
(Gen. 1: 26). In spite of the ruin wrought by 
the fall, this dominion was renewed in the 
covenant with Noah, with the addition of the 
principle of civil government (Gen. 9 :1-7). In¬ 
cidentally it may be mentioned here that this 
principle of civil government, however abused 
and misused, has never been revoked. It is the 
basis of all human government and was recog¬ 
nized, emphasized and dignified by Christ and 
by Paul. It affords an interesting side study 
of the dominion feature of God’s program. 

This kingdom principle was forecast in the 
Edenic promise (Gen. 3:15). It proceeded in 
the choice of a chosen seed (Gen. 4:25) ; in a 
chosen race (Gen. 11:10-32) ; in a chosen fam¬ 
ily and nation (Gen. 12:1-3) ; in a chosen tribe 
(Gen. 49:10) ; and a chosen kingdom (2 Sam. 
7:12-17). From Adam to Samuel this king¬ 
dom was theocratic (Gen. 1: 26-28; 9 : 6; Ex. 3: 
1-10; 19:9; Josh. 1:1; Judges 2 :16-18). 

37 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


The Hebrew nation, as the chosen expression 
of this theocracy, formally rejected God as 
King and chose Saul the son of Kish (1 Sam. 
8:1-7). God’s program was not annulled how¬ 
ever, but renewed in the Davidic covenant (2 
Sam. 7:12-17). In addition to being the me¬ 
dium for emphasizing the kingdom principle, 
the Hebrew was chosen as a called-out witness¬ 
ing nation for a fourfold purpose : 1. To wit¬ 
ness to the unity of God (Deut. 6:4). 2. To 
reveal the blessedness of serving Jehovah 
(Deut. 33 : 26-29). 3. To receive, preserve and 
transmit the Scriptures (Deut. 4: 5-8; Horn. 3: 
1, 2). 4. To give to the world the seed of the 
woman, the Messianic Savior and King (Gen. 
12:3; Isa. 9:6; Micah 5:2). 

The Davidic Kingdom. Notwithstanding the 
rejection of Jehovah as King, a solemn cove¬ 
nant, “ordered in all things and sure,” was 
made with David in which the perpetuity of his 
house and throne and kingdom were positively 
assured (2 Sam. 7 : 8-17 ; 23 :1-5). In harmony 
with the progressive character of revelation, 
the dim foregleam of a kingdom heavenly in 
origin and principle and authority, but func¬ 
tioning on the earth, which was seen in the 
prophecies of Jacob (Gen. 49:10) and Balaam 

38 


THE PROGRAM AND THE KINGDOM 


(Num. 24:17), now became the theme of the 
prophets. 

God gave His solemn oath that the Da- 
vidic kingdom would be perpetual (Psa. 89:1- 
36). A King was to reign on the earth in right¬ 
eousness (Isa. 2 : 2-4; 32 :1; Jer. 23 : 5, 6). The 
Messiah was to be David’s Son and that King 
(Isa. 9:6, 7; Ezek. 37:24, 25; Dan. 7:13, 14; 
Micah 5 : 2-4; Zech. 9: 9, 10). In no place and 
by no prophet was the coming of that kingdom 
described as a process of slow growth, or by a 
law of spiritual evolution. It was ever placed 
in the sharpest contrast with existing condi¬ 
tions and dominions and was to be set up with 
startling suddenness and paralyzing power 
(Dan. 2: 44, 45). A careful study of the hun¬ 
dreds of references to this kingdom as outlined 
in the Old Testament will reveal three out¬ 
standing marks by which it is always distin¬ 
guished : supernatural in origin; overwhelming 
in power; perpetual in duration. 

The Messiah-Prince. The ever present law of 
double reference is strikingly manifest in 
prophetic kingdom truth. The Abrahamic cove¬ 
nant embraced two distinct promises. The first 
of these covered the temporal growth of the 
Hebrew nation and their inheritance in the 

39 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


land of Canaan. The second was redemptive 
as expressed in the words, “And in thee shall 
all families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 
12:3). The angel Gabriel came as a special 
messenger to Daniel to reveal the time of the 
appearing of the Messiah-Prince and clearly 
and emphatically defined the double character 
of His work which was ‘ ‘ to finish transgression, 
and to make an end of sins, and to make recon¬ 
ciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlast¬ 
ing righteousness” (Dan. 9:24-27). 

This same angel, Gabriel, appeared to Mary 
announcing the prospective birth of the pro¬ 
phetic Son foretold by Isaiah (Isa. 9:6) who 
was to be the Savior, and yet be David’s son, 
receive his throne and reign forever (Luke 1: 
26-33). Hence, the redemptive work of the 
Messiah and the consummation of the kingdom 
are accomplished by the same divine Person. 
There is no other conclusion })ossible. Christ, 
in His birth, was recognized, not only as a Re¬ 
deemer, but as a King (Matt. 2:2-6; Luke 1: 
32, 33). He acknowledged kingship (John 18: 
36, 37). He died as a King (John 19:19). He 
was received into the upper glory as a King 
(Psa. 24: 7-10; Acts 5:31; Eph. 1: 20, 21; Phil. 
2:9,10; 1 Pet. 3:22). 


40 


THE PROGRAM AND THE KINGDOM 


Teaching by Doubles. Returning to the He¬ 
brew theocracy, as already noted, that nation¬ 
alism served a double purpose. On the one 
hand was the object lesson of an earthly king¬ 
dom with a heavenly director; on the other 
hand was the called-out witnessing nation hear¬ 
ing testimony to, and illustrating, redemptive 
and spiritual truth. They were the natural 
seed of Abraham, but there was to be a spiri¬ 
tual seed. They were in a period of slavery, 
but that slavery was a type of the slavery of 
sin. They were called out of bondage and mi¬ 
raculously delivered, but that calling and de¬ 
liverance was a type of a greater calling and 
deliverance. They had an inheritance in a 
promised land, but that land was a type of a 
spiritual and an heavenly Canaan. They had 
the earthly house of David and a kingdom 
covering a small sector of the earth, but that 
house was to produce a King whose dominion 
was to be from sea to sea and from the river 
to the ends of the earth and be without end. 
Their Messiah was to come as a suffering Man 
and as a King in glory. He was to be born in 
Bethlehem, and yet to be from the everlastings 
(Micah 5:2). They had an elaborate religious 
ceremonialism, but every act of that service 

41 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


was luminous with symbolized redemptive and 
kingdom truth. 

The recognition of this twofold character of 
revelation is absolutely necessary in order to 
understand the divine plan. Ever in the fore¬ 
ground is the gradually unfolding plan of re¬ 
demption ; ever in the background is the king¬ 
dom of God. Representing these two great 
hemispheres of truth are the lines of symbol¬ 
ism and prophecy converging in one divine 
Person who was to be Savior and Lord, Re¬ 
deemer and King. In the interests of clearness 
it should be stated here and kept in mind all 
through the discussions to follow, that nowhere 
in the Old Testament is the church, as re¬ 
vealed in the New Testament, recognized or re¬ 
ferred to. The spiritual triumphs described 
are always connected with the redemptive or 
kingly work of Christ, usually the latter. Fail¬ 
ure to recognize this fact leads to confusion of 
thought and misunderstanding of God’s plan. 

The Theocratic Kingdom and Righteousness. 
The national kingdom of the Old Testament 
was not confined to ceremonialism and the daz¬ 
zling splendor of a kingly court of the Solomon 
type; its fundamental principle was righteous¬ 
ness. It was built upon the need of a revelation 

42 


THE PROGRAM AND THE KINGDOM 


from God, an atonement for sin, and holiness 
of life. Its unmovable badge of loyalty was 
obedience to God—the pivot of the moral bat¬ 
tle-ground along the entire line of man’s his¬ 
tory. 

The theocracy rested upon commands of 
which the following is a sample: ‘ ‘ Know there¬ 
fore this day, and lay it to thy heart, that Jeho¬ 
vah he is God in heaven above and upon the 
earth beneath; there is none else. And thou 
shalt keep his statutes, and his commandments, 
which I command thee this day, that it may go 
well with thee, and with thy children after 
thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days in 
the land, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, 
for ever” (Deut. 4:39,40). The following ref¬ 
erences are examples of how this call to right¬ 
eousness in conduct and holiness of character 
was voiced by the prophets in turn (Isa. 1:16- 
19; Jer. 2:1-37; Hosea 10:12; Amos 6:1-6; 
Micah 6:8). 

When Jesus came as the Messiah, the Jew 
had largely lost this conception of the law and 
the nation was under the oppressive pall of 
a dead ceremonial ecclesiasticism, and yet, 
strange to say, hoping for the restoration of the 
national glory. Very naturally then, the 

43 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 

preaching of John the Baptist and of Christ 
was centered upon this lost conception of truth 
—the necessity of repentance and for seeking 
that kingdom of God which is always to be ex¬ 
pressed in righteousness. 

The Sermon on the Mount was a re-pro¬ 
nouncement of the moral code of the kingdom. 
It was not the gospel, but the standard which 
the gospel was to make possible. Dr. Whedon 
says: ‘ ‘ Our Savior is not setting Himself up as 
an opponent, though a superior of Moses. He is 
only disburdening Moses of the long standing 
misinterpretations, and bringing out the law in 
its own purity.” It is the King’s proclama¬ 
tion of the laws which are to obtain in His king¬ 
dom. He did not set forth terms of salvation 
to sinners, but the principles of life for His 
subjects. These subjects are characterized by 
certain distinctive traits (Matt. 5:1-12) ; they 
have clearly defined responsibilities (Matt. 5: 
13-10) ; they are regulated in conduct by su¬ 
perior standards of ethics (Matt. 5:20-48). 

The King and His Kingdom. Space does not 
permit a full discussion of the kingdom truth 
presented in the Old Testament. But the most 
casual reader can not fail to note that the 
thought of a divine King and His subjects is 

44 


THE PROGRAM AND THE KINGDOM 


ever present. The following outline is a sim¬ 
ple, condensed statement of this fundamental 
truth. 

1. The universal kingdom of God is ever 
kept prominent through personal revelations 
(to Abraham, Gen. 17:1; to Moses, Ex. 3:6); 
through the theocracy (Deut. 10:12-22) ; and 
through prophets and kings (1 Sam. 2:1-10; 2 
Kings 19 : 20-35; 2 Chron. 20: 6-18; Psa. 46; 
Jer. 10:10; Dan. 2 : 20-22 ; Mai. 1:14). 

2. The promise of a prospective kingdom, 
heavenly in origin and principle and authority, 
to function on the earth and to be distinguished 
by spiritual and political blessings of the most 
comprehensive and glorious character (Gen. 49: 
10; Num. 24:17; Psa. 72; Isa. 40:10,11; Jer. 
23 : 5, 6; Ezek. 37:24; Zech. 9 : 9,10). 

3. This kingdom is to be set up by David s 
son, the Messiah (Psa. 89 : 3-27; 132 :11,17,18; 
Isa. 11:10; Jer. 33:17; Hos. 3:5). 

4. This King is to be divine and His rule 
universal and perpetual (Isa. 9 : 6, 7; Dan. 7: 
13,14). 

5. In addition to the foregoing prophetic 
utterances it was just as definitely foretold that 
this Messiah and King would be subject to hu¬ 
miliation and suffering to an unparalleled de- 

45 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 

gree (Psa. 69:18-25; Isa. 50:6; 52 :13,14; 53; 
Micah 5:1; Zech. 11:12; 13: 6, 7). 

6. The entire field of Messianic prophecy is 
reduced by Peter to two propositions—the suf¬ 
ferings of Christ and the glory which should 
follow (1 Pet. 1: 10,11). The sufferings of 
Christ relate to His redemptive work. It is ab¬ 
solutely essential as a basis upon which God the 
sovereign can meet the problem of recovering 
the lost race and making possible the consum¬ 
mation of the divine plan of securing a race of 
holy sons. The “glory that should follow” is 
the setting up of the predicted kingdom on the 
earth which is destined to settle the question 
of sovereignty and the right of God’s Son to 
reign and be served as King of kings and Lord 
of lords. 

7. Hence, there are two angles of revealed 
truth. The first is the redemptive plan consum¬ 
mated by Christ whereby reconciliation to God 
is possible, submissive rebels receiving a full 
pardon and given power to express the charac¬ 
teristics of subjects of the heavenly kingdom as 
outlined by the King in the Sermon on the 
Mount. This plan was progressively unfolded 
through the history, religious ceremonialism, 
and prophetic offices of the chosen nation. The 

46 


THE PROGRAM AND THE KINGDOM 


second is the kingdom plan of which the theo¬ 
cratic kingdom was to be a type, but which 
largely failed through the disobedience of Is¬ 
rael. The plan, however, was maintained in 
promise and prophecy. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

What is meant by the kingdom of God as used in 
the Old Testament? Outline the kingdom principle 
in the Old Testament. Define the Davidic covenant. 
What provisions of that covenant were fulfilled in 
Christ’s first advent? What provisions remain to 
be fulfilled in His second advent? What was the 
fundamental principle of the Old Testament king¬ 
dom? How did Jesus relate this principle to life? 
How does the principle of righteousness find expres¬ 
sion in your life? 


47 


The question asked by the disciples after the res¬ 
urrection —“ Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the 
kingdom to Israel?"•—serves to set forth both the 
present feelings and thoughts of the disciples, and 
the deferred but not changed purpose of God in ref¬ 
erence to the Jewish nation. Plainly the twelve had 
no thought above the expectation of their times. 
During Jesus' ministry they looked for the restwa- 
tion of the lost supremacy of Israel, and for deliv¬ 
erance from Rome's domination. The terrible scenes 
of the crucifixion and the infallible proofs of Jesus' 
resurrection had not altered the current of their 
hopes. They ivere still ignorant of the great aim in 
Jesus' life. They ivere living on a very low plane. 
They looked for nothing but a carnal, worldly king¬ 
dom with a carnal, conquering head. If these hopes 
had been dashed by the crucifixion, they ivere re¬ 
vived by the resurrection. In Jesus' answer to their 
query lie does not deny the validity of their hope, 
but declares that the time for its fulfilment i3 placed 
in the Father's own right. lie thereby intimates 
that the supremacy which once pertained to Israel 
as a nation, was not to be restored now. A certain 
kind of power had belonged to Israel for the main¬ 
tenance of national leadership in the earth. That 
power had left them and their national supremacy 
had long since ended. Now, however, a new body 
is to be called out with a new kind of supremacy 
and a new kind of power for its administration. 
That body should be the channel of grace, and the 
instrument of witness to the world. The power 
enabling this body to proclaim the grace, and to bear 
testimony to the person and work of the Lord, was 
the gift of the Holy Ghost. — Prof. J. M. Stifler. 


48 


CHAPTER IV 


THE KINGDOM AND THE CHURCH 

The Kingdom Program and Christ. While 
Christ came to save the world, He came in a 
very special and peculiar sense to save “his 
(own) people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). 
He was born a Jew and confined His ministry 
almost wholly to His own nation. Therefore 
His message was clothed in words and expres¬ 
sions familiar to His race. Hence, when He be¬ 
gan His ministry His theme was the kingdom 
of God. John the Baptist preceded Him, 
“preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, saying, 
Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at 
hand” (Matt. 3: 1, 2). “And Jesus went 
about all the cities and the villages, teaching in 
their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of 
the kingdom” (Matt. 9:35). Choosing twelve 
men He sent them to the lost sheep of the house 
of Israel with the message that the kingdom of 
heaven was at hand (Matt. 10: 2-7). Later He 
sent out seventy by twos commanding them to 
say in whatever city they might enter, “The 

40 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


kingdom of God is come nigh unto you” (Luke 

10:9). 

The universal kingdom of God has been de¬ 
fined. Now what did Jesus mean by the king¬ 
dom of God? The word basileia, translated 
kingdom, is used as a religious term one hun¬ 
dred forty times in the New Testament. It 
occurs one hundred nine times in the gos¬ 
pels, nearly fifty of these being found in 
Matthew. As in the Old Testament, the teach¬ 
ing concerning the kingdom in the New Testa¬ 
ment is twofold. There are two phases of the 
kingdom. The first is preparatory to the sec¬ 
ond. 

The first phase of the kingdom which Jesus 
taught was His rule in the hearts and lives of 
men. It is directly connected with His redemp¬ 
tive work. It is placed in the sharpest contrast 
with the national kingdom for which the Jews 
were looking. It is that phase of the kingdom 
which means Christ the Savior within as Christ 
the King, with all the treasure He imparts. It 
means a reconciled subject which includes par¬ 
don, holiness and power. It is not of this world, 
but heavenly in its nature and administration 
(John 18:36). It is received in the spirit of 
childlikeness (Mark 10:15). It is not in out- 

50 


THE KINGDOM AND THE CHURCH 


ward demonstration (Luke 17: 20), but is 
within (Luke 17:21). It is not in word, but 
in power (1 Cor. 4:20), translating out of the 
power of darkness into the kingdom of the Son 
(Col. 1:13). It is not eating and drinking, but 
“righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy 
Spirit” (Rom. 14:17). 

This phase of the kingdom has its gospel, its 
evangel, its good news. This news is that rec¬ 
onciliation is offered to every rebellious sub¬ 
ject. Every rebel is offered a pardon. The 
Messiah-Prince who came to destroy the works 
of Satan triumphed through His cross and is 
able to save to the uttermost (Heb. 9:27). 

But if this much is said and no more, it is a 
partial evangel only. For a very important 
part of the message of the gospel of the king-] 
dom is the announcement of the second phase 
of the kingdom. Jesus put it into the story of 
the nobleman who went into a far country to 
receive for himself a kingdom and to return 
(Luke 19:12-27). Jesus is that nobleman. He 
was here, but has gone away. He has gone to 
receive His kingdom and to return. "The first 
chapter of Acts describes His departure. It 
also tells how He shall return. 

This second phase of the kingdom occupies a 

51 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 

large portion of the gospels and epistles. These 
references are too numerous to list, but the fol¬ 
lowing are suggestive (Matt. 7 : 21; 8:11; 13: 
43; 16:28; 25:1; 26:29; Luke 13:38; 22:30; 
2 Thess. 1:7-10). This gospel is the blessed 
news of the imminency of the glorious kingdom 
of the fathers and prophets, the kingdom re¬ 
vealed to Daniel, the kingdom mentioned by 
Gabriel, and that coming glory, the revelation 
of which was the hope and theme of the apos¬ 
tles after Pentecost. 

The Beginning of the Church. Dr. Philip 

Schaff in his catechism asks the question, ‘ ‘ Who 
founded the Christian church?” The answer 
given is, “Our exalted Savior on the fiftieth 
day after the resurrection by the outpouring of 
the Holy Spirit upon the disciples in Jerusa¬ 
lem.” When we speak of the early church we 
do not go back to Abraham, Moses, David or 
Malachi. We begin with the Book of Acts. 
There was no church in the New Testament use 
of the word until the day of Pentecost had 
fully come. 

The Church and the Kingdom. The late Dr. 
Russell, ex-president of Westminster College, 
New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, ex-moderator 
of the General Assembly of the United Presby- 

52 


THE KINGDOM AND THE CHURCH 


terian Church, said: “The church is not the 
kingdom, but the herald of the kingdom. In it 
(the church) there is the continuation of God’s 
elective method, begun with Abraham, con¬ 
tinued in Israel, and extended to the Gentile 
world. In Abraham God chose a worthy man 
to be His pupil in the solitudes of the Syrian 
uplands, to learn the lessons of monotheism and 
faith, and thus be a channel of blessing to the 
whole world. God chose Israel for the sake of 
blessing the nations and reaching world-wide 
kingdom blessings. When Israel failed He did 
not change His method, but proceeded to choose 
a spiritual Israel as His church so that kingdom 
blessings might yet reach all humanity.” 

Dr. A. T. Pierson suggested the same thought 
when he said: ‘ ‘ The second man, the last 

Adam, appears on the stage of history, and, 
like the first Adam, is on a probation, and goes 
through with His temptation. How like Gen¬ 
esis that is!—but where Adam fell, He stood. 
And now His work is to lead out a people for 
God, and so the next thing that we meet in the 
New Testament is the Exodus, the new separa¬ 
tion, the ekklesia, the called-out disciples and 
the called-out church; and just as in Exodus 
they passed under the blood-stained doorway, 

53 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 

so in the New Testament they pass under the 
shelter of the blood-stained cross, and there is 
no entrance on the new pilgrimage except like 
the entrance on the old—by the way of the 
blood. ’ ’ 

The Church a New Called-Out Body. It has 

just been stated that the word basileia , trans¬ 
lated kingdom, is used as a religious term one 
hundred nine times in the gospels. The 
Greek word ekklesia translated church occurs 
but twice in the gospels, both of these being in 
Matthew, while it is found over one hundred 
times in Acts, the Epistles and Revelation. 
This clearly proves that basileia is the pre-Pen¬ 
tecost word, while ekklesia is the post-Pentecost 
word. 

The word ekklesia was a common word 
among the Greeks to denote an assembly or 
congregation called out by a herald for the dis¬ 
cussion and decision of public business. It is 
from the Greek word ek , out, and kalein , to 
call. The International Standard Bible Ency¬ 
clopaedia is authority for the following state¬ 
ment: ‘'The Septuagint translators used the 
word ekklesia to render the Hebrew kahal 9 
which in the Old Testament denotes the ‘ con¬ 
gregation J or community of Israel, especially 

54 


THE KINGDOM AND THE CHURCH 


in its religious aspect as the people of God. In 
this Old Testament sense we find ekklesia em¬ 
ployed by Stephen in the Book of Acts, where 
he described Moses as he that was in the church 
(congregation) in the wilderness (Acts 7:38). 
The word thus came into Christian history 
with associations alike for the Greek and the 
Jew. To the Greek it would suggest a self-gov¬ 
erning democratic society; to the Jew a theo¬ 
cratic society whose members were subjects of 
the heavenly King. The pre-Christian history 
of the word had a direct bearing upon its 
Christian meaning, for the ekklesia of the New 
Testament is a ‘theocratic democracy,’ a so¬ 
ciety of those who are free, but are always con¬ 
scious that their freedom springs from obedi¬ 
ence to their King. ’ ’ 

Instead of translating this word “assembly” 
or “congregation,” the scholars have used the 
word “church.” This is from the Greek word 
kuriakos , of or belonging to the Lord. Hence, 
the New Testament meaning of the term 
church is a called-out people belonging to the 
Lord. The term Lord as applied to Christ is 
His regal title meaning sovereign authority, 
mastership, rulership. And again we are face 
to face with the kingdom truth which is the 

55 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


very essence of the divine program. The church 
then is a called-out body of believers acknowl¬ 
edging the sovereign authority of Jesus Christ 
and proving that rulership by the most implicit 
obedience to His will and pleasure. 

The Church and Her Builder. One of the 
great epochs in the teaching ministry of our 
Lord occurred in Caesarea Philippi (Matt. 16: 
13-28). Eesponding to Peter’s heaven-inspired 
confession Jesus said: “Blessed art thou, Si¬ 
mon Bar-Jonah: for flesh and blood hath not 
revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in 
heaven. And I also say unto thee, that thou 
art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my 
church; and the gates of Hades shall not pre¬ 
vail against it.” Jesus did not say, “I have 
built,” nor, “I am building,” but, “I will 
build.” It was a prospective structure. 

The next statement reveals that this new 
body of called-out ones was to sustain a vital 
relation to the kingdom. In scriptural typology 
a key is a badge of power or authority (see 
Eev. 1: 18). Hence, the prospective ekklesia 
was to be a new form for the functioning of 
the kingdom in which spiritual administrative 
power and executive authority should be exer¬ 
cised through human agencies. This power was 

56 


THE KINGDOM AND THE CHURCH 


conferred upon Peter and his associates at Pen¬ 
tecost. By virtue of the authority so conferred 
Peter opened the door of gospel privilege to Is¬ 
rael (Acts 2:38-42), later to Gentiles in the 
house of Cornelius (Acts 19 : 34-46), and closed 
it eternally to Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5: 
1 - 11 ). 

Dark Sayings. Jesus continued His instruc¬ 
tion in a series of statements which must have 
seemed exceedingly contradictory to His hear¬ 
ers. Notwithstanding Peter’s confession of His 
Lordship, Jesus spoke of His approaching trial 
and death, and then sought to impress upon 
them the fact that the true ekJclesia was not to 
function through a forced assent to an exter¬ 
nal dominion, but through the voluntary and 
glad consent to a regal power within. The 
new' order is not to be distinguished by terms 
relating to the supremacy of states or nations, 
but with those relating to the supremacy of 
soul. The divine objective is not power or 
wealth, but character. The King was to endure 
suffering, and so was the subject. 

Still, notwithstanding the seeming incon¬ 
gruity of the prospective humiliation, suffering 
and death of the King with the age-long dream 
of kingdom blessing and glory, the latter is not 

57 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


a fancy. It is not a cunningly devised fable. 
This same Son of man whom Peter had just 
declared to be the Son of God, this same Jesus 
who was charging them not to reveal the fact 
that He was the Christ until later, this same 
self-avowed King who was to “suffer many 
things of the elders and chief priests and 
scribes, and be killed, and the third day be 
raised up, ” this same Jesus was to come in 
“the glory of His father with His angels” and 
render unto every man according to his deeds. 

Poor Peter and James and John! How be¬ 
wildered must have been their minds as, from 
their Judaistic training and point of approach, 
they listened to these paradoxical statements! 
It was no mystery to hear about a basileia , for 
that was a racial inheritance. It was no mys¬ 
tery to hear about a prospective ekklesia so far 
as the signification of the word was concerned, 
for Abraham and his descendants were a called- 
out people. But to have kej^s of authority be¬ 
stowed by one facing death; prediction of 
the death of their King who had just been de¬ 
clared to be the Son of God; absolutism of re¬ 
nunciation as a condition of discipleship to one 
self-confessed as at the mercy of His enemies; 
spiritual values placed above all possible earth- 

58 


THE KINGDOM AND THE CHURCH 


ly considerations; and a coming of the Son of 
man in the glory of the Father; all of this jum¬ 
bled into one discourse must have been bewil¬ 
dering indeed to men who were still blind to 
the two distinct phases of kingdom truth. 

The Daybreak. Finally Jesus concludes this 
remarkable discourse with one of His signif¬ 
icant “verities”: “Verily I say unto you, 
There are some of them that stand here, who 
shall in no wise taste of death, till they see the 
Son of man coming in his kingdom.” Within 
six days Peter, James and John fell on their 
faces blinded by the effulgent glory of the King 
as He stood clothed in that unsullied light and 
brightness as He will be in His second coming. 
Peter never forgot the wonder of that experi¬ 
ence, and, after the scales dropped from his 
eyes under the clarifying power of Pentecost, 
never misapplied its meaning and teaching 
(2 Pet. 1:16-19). 

A number of that company saw the power 
and glory of that kingdom as it was manifested 
in the victory of the King over death and 
Hades through the resurrection, and one at 
least, heard that King saying : 1 ‘ Fear not; I am 
the first and the last, and the Living one; and 
I was dead, and behold, I am alive for ever- 

59 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


more, and I have the keys of death and Hades” 
(Rev. 1:17,18). 

But what about the new phase of the king¬ 
dom in the form of the ekklesia which Christ 
said He would build? Did any of that com¬ 
pany see that kingdom coming in power ? They 
did. A number of those who listened to the 
words of Jesus that day in Caesarea Philippi 
were members of that company in Jerusalem 
when a heavenly wind filled the place where 
they were sitting, while cloven tongues as of 
fire sat upon them and gave them utterance to 
declare the wonderful works of God. And in 
and through that glorious outpouring and 
downcoming of spiritual power and glory, three 
thousand experienced the new birth, receiving 
that kingdom of God within which is not in 
word, but in power; which is not in eating and 
drinking, “but righteousness and peace and 
joy in the Holy Spirit.’’ 

The Christian religion being a saving pro¬ 
cess and a law of spiritual life, is both sub¬ 
jective and objective. It is first individualistic 
and then social. The love of God for the world 
reaches the individual. The atonement is in¬ 
dividualistic in its provisions (Heb. 2:9). In 
its growth and harvest the Christian religion 

60 


THE KINGDOM AND THE CHURCH 


becomes social and objective. It is first An¬ 
drew, and then, Andrew and Simon Peter. It 
is first a small company of one hundred 
twenty, and then it is that number plus three 
thousand. 

The dark things were becoming luminous. 
Daybreak had come. The builder had begun 
His work. The stream of world-wide blessing 
through the Abrahamic covenant had begun to 
flow. The new spiritual exodus to form a peo¬ 
ple for His name (Acts 15:14) was now in full 
swing. 


SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

What did Jesus mean by the kingdom of God? 
Explain the two phases of this kingdom as taught 
by Christ and the apostles. Who is the builder of 
the church? What is the relation of the church to 
the kingdom? Reconcile the statements of Jesus 
which to the disciples seemed contradictory. How 
are you helping to fit stones for His building? 


61 


What is the mystery ef the ages? It is not that 
the Gentiles could be saved. That was a long known 
truth. That As what God meant when He sent Abra¬ 
ham to live among the Gentiles, and by precept and 
practise show them the way. That is what God 
meant when He permitted Joseph to go doivn into 
Egypt. That is what He meant when, by the lips 
of every Old Testament prophet, He proclaimed the 
truth to the nations round about Judah. That is 
what He meant when Jonah preached in the streets 
of Nineveh and was a prophet to the Gentiles. “The 
mystery,” now announced, is the fact that the saved 
Jew and the Gentile should form one temple, one 
body, one church of the living God—moving on to 
the inheritance of the saints in light, that the mid¬ 
dle wall of partition should be broken down, and in 
the divine plan there should be no longer a distinc¬ 
tion between Jeio and Gentile... .It was a neio era 
in religion; it was a spiritual Magna Charta; it was 
the revelation of the divine mind; and Paul was 
God's appointee as teacher of the Gentiles in this 
faith and verity. — Dr. William B. Riley. 


62 


CHAPTER V 


THE PROGRAM AND THE MYSTERY 

Bible Mysteries. In its New Testament use 
the word ‘ ‘ mystery ’ ’ relates to a spiritual 
truth which has been hidden and which is of 
such a nature that unaided human reason could 
not discover it, but which is eventually re¬ 
vealed to those who have spiritual vision. It 
stands in sharp contrast with the heathen mys¬ 
teries which were revealed to a few of the in¬ 
itiated. All true Christians are candidates for 
the revealing of the mysteries of the kingdom 
(Matt. 13:11; 1 Cor. 2:6-10). 

There are a number of these mysteries. The 
incarnation is a mystery (Col. 2:2,9). The 
process by which godliness is restored to man 
is a mystery (1 Tim. 3:16; John 3:8). The 
development of the principle of evil operating 
through the age and consummating in the man 
of sin is a mystery (2 Thess. 2:7). The con¬ 
flict between truth and error through the pres¬ 
ent age as covered by the parables of the king¬ 
dom is a mystery (Matt. 13). The union of 

63 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 

Jew and Gentile in one new elected body called 
the church is a mystery (Eph. 3:4-6). The 
union of Christ and the church mystically 
represented by marriage is a mystery (Eph. 
5:32). 

The Church as the Mystery. When Saul of 
Tarsus, blinded by a personal revelation of the 
ascended Lord, was led into Damascus, one 
Ananias was sent to minister to the convicted 
persecutor with these words: ‘ ‘ Go thy way: for 
he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name 
before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children 
of Israel” (Acts 9:15). The full significance 
of these words appear in Paul’s personal state¬ 
ment in Ephesians 3 : 3-10. He is very definite 
and positive. He declares a dispensation was 
given him, that through a revelation he was 
made to understand the mystery, that this mys¬ 
tery was hidden in other ages, that it is now re¬ 
vealed by the Holy Spirit, that the hidden 
truth of this mystery was that the Gentiles 
should be fellow-heirs through the gospel, that 
he was called to proclaim this wealth of truth, 
that this mystery hidden in God from the be¬ 
ginning was now made known through the 
called-out body—the church. 

In other words, the church which Christ de- 

64 


THE PROGRAM AND THE MYSTERY 


dared He would build had been in the plan of 
God from the beginning. This form of the king¬ 
dom had been a mystery. It had been com¬ 
pletely hidden. He was specifically called to 
reveal it. This mystery was the new ckklesia , 
a body composed of believers from both Jew 
and Gentile and united in fellowship, “fellow- 
heirs, and fellow-members of the body, and fel¬ 
low-partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus 
through the gospel.” He earnestly beseeches 
prayer for himself that he might have boldness 
in making known this mystery (Eph. 6:19). 
He declares that this secret kept since the 
world began is now revealed and to be made 
known to all nations for the obedience of faith 
(Rom. 16 : 25, 26). Finally, this age-long mys¬ 
tery is revealed to the saints as the riches of 
glory among the Gentiles, which is “Christ in 
you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:26,27). 

This mystery, then, is the union of the Jew 
and Gentile into one body made possible by the 
breaking down of the partition wall by Christ 
whereby a new man emerges, reconciled to God 
by the cross, having access to the Father, not 
through the intermediary of a priest and altar, 
but through the Holy Spirit (Eph. 2:11-18). 

The Church as a Temple. The Hebrew was 

65 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


called to be a witness to the unity of God. The 
church is called to be a witness to the spiritual¬ 
ity of God. Jesus set this high standard by 
saying to the Samaritan woman that God is a 
Spirit and that He is seeking for true wor¬ 
shipers who will worship Him in Spirit and in 
truth (John 4: 23, 24). 

The peculiar glory of the temple was in its 
being indwelt by Jehovah. When the Shekinah 
departed, it was but a desolate, tenantless struc¬ 
ture. The peculiar glory of the church lies in 
the fact that she is to be a habitation of God 
through the Spirit. When she becomes a ten¬ 
antless structure, however beautiful the ex¬ 
terior, however perfect the furnishings, she is 
no longer a habitation of God and the divine 
purpose is thwarted. 

A temple implies dedication, worship, prayer 
and service. The subjects of the spiritual king¬ 
dom are taught that their bodies are the tem¬ 
ples of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 3:17), while 
the community of believers form the spiritual 
temple of which Paul spoke. The temple obli¬ 
gations remain the same—dedication, worship, 
prayer and service. Each new believer becomes 
an additional living stone which is fitted into 
this enlarging temple. The new spiritual Is- 

66 


THE PROGRAM AND THE MYSTERY 


rael—the ekklesia —is a Holy of Holies indwelt 
by God and radiating light and purity and 
power. The test of faith to the Hebrew was, 
i ‘ Dost thou believe in the one God ? ’ ’ The test 
of faith to the Jew was, “What wilt thou do 
with Jesus which is called Christ?” The test 
of faith to the Christian is, ‘ 1 Did ye receive the 
Holy Spirit when ye believed?” 

The Church as a Body. There are three mys¬ 
terious unions in connection with the Chris¬ 
tian religion. The first of these is the substan¬ 
tial union of three persons in one Godhead. The 
second is the personal union of the human and 
divine natures in Christ. The third is this mys¬ 
tical union between Christ and believers. It is 
a spiritual union (1 Cor. 6 :17 ; 1 John 3 : 24). 
It is a vital union (John 14:19). 

The unmistakable teaching of the Epistle to 
the Ephesians is that through the cross Christ 
recovers that which pertains inherently to 
Him. His love for His church; the sacrifice 
made in her behalf; the provision for her puri¬ 
fication; all the processes of redemptive grace 
were because of the origination of humanity in 
Christ. 

The first Adam fell into a deep sleep during 
which time God took a rib from his side from 

67 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


which He made a woman, and brought her to 
the man. ‘ ‘ And the man said, This is now bone 
of my bones, and flesh of my flesh” (Gen. 2: 
23). Paul teaches that in a somewhat mystical 
sense marriage is a reunion, the re-incorpora¬ 
tion of what has been sundered (Eph. 5:28, 
29). “ Seeking his other self, the complement 
of his nature, the man breaks the ties of birth 
and founds a new home.” The second Adam 
permitted Himself to fall into the sleep of 
death with a riven side, and out of that sleep 
comes the reunion of Christ and the preexist- 
ently chosen humanity (Eph. 1:4). 

It was no new or foreign bride Christ pur¬ 
chased by His blood, but she who was His from 
eternity—the betrothed who had left her Lord 
and Spouse. The pious Richard Hooker wrote: 
* ‘ The church is in Christ as Eve was in Adam. 
Yea, by grace we are every one of us in Christ 
and in His church, as by nature we are in our 
first parents. God made Eve of the rib of 
Adam. And His church He frameth out of the 
very flesh, the very wounded and bleeding side 
of the Son of man. His body crucified and His 
blood shed for the life of the world are the true 
elements of that heavenly being which maketh 
us such as Himself is of whom we come. For 

68 


THE PROGRAM AND THE MYSTERY 


which cause the words of Adam may be fitly 
the words of Christ concerning His church, 
‘flesh of my flesh, and bone of my bones—a 
true native extract out of mine own body. ’ So 
that in Him, even according to His manhood, 
we according to our heavenly being are as 
branches in that root out of which they grow. ’ ’ 

The Present Position of the Church. The 
failure to properly interpret the New Testa¬ 
ment teaching of the church as the body of 
Christ, serving and suffering now, yet ever 
cheered and inspired by the sure promise of 
exalted glory, has led to much confusion and 
error. Much of the current teaching is a Juda- 
istic interpretation of the nature and scope of 
the church. The church is assumed to be a con¬ 
tinuation of Israel in a more spiritualized 
form, but with the same promises of earthly 
blessing and success and ultimate glory. Noth¬ 
ing can be farther from the truth. 

The relation between God and Israel was on 
the basis of a covenant (Gen. 17:4; Acts 3: 
25) ; the relation between Christ and the 
church is based upon birth (John 1:12,13; 3: 
3; 1 Pet. 1:23). Israel was chosen from the 
foundation of the world (Matt. 25:34); the 
church was chosen before the foundation of the 

69 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


world (Eph. 1:4). Israel was chosen to func¬ 
tion in the earth (Gen. 12:1-3) ; the church is 
to function in the lieavenlies (Eph. 1:3). Is¬ 
rael’s blessings were largely material (Deut. 
32:13,14) ; the church’s blessings are spiritual 
(Eph. 1:3). Israel had her citizenship in Ca¬ 
naan (Gen. 15:18); the church has hers in 
heaven (Phil 3:20). The standard of power 
for Israel was “like as there was for Israel in 
the day that he came up out of the land of 
Egypt” (Isa. 11:16) ; the standard of power 
for the church is ‘ ‘ according to that working of 
the strength of his might which he wrought in 
Christ, when he raised him from the dead” 
(Eph. 1:19,20). Israel was given cities and 
houses and vineyards as an earthly inheritance 
(Deut. 6: 10, 11) ; the church is promised an 
heavenly inheritance (1 Pet. 1:4). Israel was 
taught to look upon Canaan as a permanent 
home conditioned upon obedience (Deut. 6:17- 
25) ; the church is to maintain the attitude of 
pilgrims and strangers passing through and be¬ 
yond to a permanent abode (Heb. 13:12-14). 

The Suffering of the Body, the Church. In 
the New Testament the church is invariably 
represented as a persecuted, suffering body 
throughout this present age. Jesus emphasized 

70 


THE PROGRAM AND THE MYSTERY 


this in His teaching (Matt. 10:22; Mark 13: 
13; Luke 6:22,23; John 15:18,19; 17:14). 
The apostles were counted as fools, and as the 
filth and off scouring of all things (1 Cor. 4: 9- 
13). They were exposed to constant suffering 
and opposition (2 Cor. 4: 8-12; 6 : 4-10; 11: 23- 
27). 

The preaching and reception of the gospel 
was attended by persecution and affliction (1 
Thess. 1: 6; 2 : 2,14,15). The believer is to suf¬ 
fer with Christ (Rom. 8:17; 2 Tim. 2:12); 
be always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake 
(2 Cor. 4:11) ; is appointed to suffering (Phil. 
1:29) ; is to be counted worthy of the kingdom 
through suffering (2 Thess. 1:4); and is to 
have the same mind for suffering in the flesh as 
Christ (1 Pet. 4:1). Paul counted it a price¬ 
less privilege to enter into the fellowship of 
Christ’s sufferings (Phil. 3:10). 

The Hope of the Body, the Church. The fore¬ 
going are but a few of the references which 
positively fix the relation of the church in this 
age as one of humiliation and suffering. Such 
is the divine program. But this is not all. The 
gospel of the grace of God is the good news of 
salvation attainable here and now. The church 
as a suffering body is not miserable and an ob- 

71 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


ject of pity and sympathy. She rejoices “with 
joy unspeakable and full of glory” (1 Pet. 1: 
8 ); she rejoices as a “partaker of Christ’s suf¬ 
ferings” (1 Pet. 4:13) ; she counts it all as a 
“light affliction” (2 Cor. 4:17). Why? Be¬ 
cause of her universal conquests and her daz¬ 
zling victories? Never! but for her hope. 

Side by side with the gospel of grace is the 
gospel of glory. Hearing the gospel of grace, 
believing in the Christ it reveals as the Savior, 
the believer is sealed with the Holy Spirit as 
the earnest or proof until the “redemption of 
God’s own possession, unto the praise of his 
glory” (Eph. 1:13,14). The suffering body 
is saved by hope (Rom. 8: 17-24); a hope 
which has its fruition at the end (Matt. 10: 
22) ; the hope of the reward at the revelation 
of Christ’s glory (1 Pet. 4:13) ; the hope of 
the revelation of the eternal weight of glory 
when the unseen things appear (2 Cor. 4:17, 
18) ; the hope of reigning with Him (2 Tim. 2: 
12) ; the hope of His appearing (Col. 1:4) ; 
therefore ever and always a purifying hope (1 
John 3:1-3) with absolute certainty of realiza¬ 
tion (Rev. 7:14-17). 

“It is sad indeed to record that the church 
has forgotten the primitive hope and with the 

72 


THE PROGRAM AND THE MYSTERY 


loss of this hope has also suffered the loss of 
primitive faith and love. Eyes that should be 
lifted to the heavenlies are now fixed upon the 
earth. Instead of looking to her spiritual 
sphere, the church is now taken up with social 
service. What was once done in His name is 
now done in humanity’s name. When the 
church failed in Christian compassion she fell 
to social service. If the church of God would 
preach the gospel with as much fervor and 
faithfulness as it enters into reformation, true 
light would, through the regeneration of the 
sinner, be introduced into this world’s present 
darkness. ’ ’ 


SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

Define and illustrate “mystery” as used in the 
New Testament? How did Paul explain the mys¬ 
tery of the church? The church is called a temple, 
and a body—explain these metaphors. Contrast the 
old Israel and the true church. What is the present 
state of the true church? What is her hope? How 
is the body—the church—affected when one member 
fails to function? 


73 


Consider well wliat it is to preach the gospel of 
repentance. I would rather preach the gospel of 
comfort; it would suit me personally hotter to say 
to every man who hears me, “You are altogether 
right; all you need is comfort, the hiss and seal of 
holy peace. Cheer you; it will he ivell with you.” 
To stand before any man, and say to him, “If we 
are to make solid work we must begin with the fact 
that you are as had as you can he,” is to excite 
prejudice and to create tremendous, if not insuper¬ 
able, difficulty. Here is the disadvantage of the 
preacher; he has always to challenge his hearers, 
charge them with want of integrity; his indictment 
is heavy, every count of it rising above every other 
count before it in the gravity of its impeachment. 
The lecturer comes before you tvith his kid gloves 
and scented arrangements, and tells you how de¬ 
lighted he is to have the opportunity of speaking to 
so large, enlightened, and influential an assemblage. 
The preacher stands up and says, “Repent;” and 
who likes to listen to a man ivhose voice is a charge, 
tchose sentences are thunderbolts? Yet through this 
ministry of repentance we must all pass ere we 
can enter into a ministry of reconciliation, and en¬ 
joy the infinite calm of God's own peace. — Dr. Jo¬ 
seph Parker. 


74 


CHAPTER VI 


THE PROGRAM IN ITS SAYING PROCESSES 

The World’s Needs. The world needs many 
things. It needs education, sanitation and hy¬ 
giene. It needs hospitals, doctors and nurses. 
It needs to be instructed in the conservation of 
natural resources and in the conversion of vir¬ 
gin products into food and clothing. It needs 
relief from the oppressions of centralized 
power working for selfish ends, whether it is 
found in corporate wealth, organized labor, or 
federated nations. It needs a keen cutting knife 
and a healing balm for many malignant can¬ 
cerous growths of moral evil. 

But the Hebrew, the Roman and the Greek 
world needed these things just as imperatively 
at the advent of Jesus Christ as the world 
needs them now. Rome wielded her political 
scepter over a hundred million people at the 
time Jesus Christ began His earthly ministry, 
and it is estimated that one-half of these were 
slaves. The streets of the cities of Palestine, 
Syria, Greece and Rome were crowded with 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


beggars. Morals were unspeakably corrupt, 
the pagan centers of worship being hotbeds of 
impurity and vice. The relation of capital and 
labor; the oppressions of the rich and the pitia¬ 
ble sufferings of the poor; the absence of hos¬ 
pitals, asylums and homes of refuge for the 
aged and unfortunate; provided a fertile field 
for the inauguration of humanitarian and so¬ 
cial measures. 

The Supreme Need. What did Jesus do? Did 
He institute a social survey? Did He organize 
boards of charity, appoint arbitration commit¬ 
tees for the adjustment of wages and solicit the 
rich for funds to build hospitals, endow settle¬ 
ments, and provide housing for the poor? Did 
He proceed swiftly to the emancipation of the 
millions of slaves and the construction of a new 
civil order of society by abolishing autocratic 
and despotic rulers? In short, did He stress 
the problem of collective salvation—the salva¬ 
tion of the society—or did He put something 
else first ? 

He put something else first. That something 
else is the crux of the whole problem. Here it 
is. Jesus Christ came into the world to save 
individuals first, and then, through these trans¬ 
formed individuals was to come the transfor- 

76 


THE PROGRAM IN ITS SAVING PROCESSES 


mation of society. It is Christ’s twice-born 
men who are the salt of the earth. Jesus came 
to set up the kingdom of God in power in the 
hearts of men in order that they might have 
the disposition to extend that kingdom among 
men and so hasten the coming of the universal 
kingdom of God. 

The Divine Order. It is true the world needs 
many things. It needed them yesterday; it 
needs them to-day. But the outstanding need, 
the imperative demand is not for ethics, but re¬ 
pentance; it is not for social uplift, but re¬ 
demption ; it is not for reformation, but salva¬ 
tion. It is true Jesus went about doing good, 
healing the sick and comforting the sorrowing, 
but this was incidental and a continual evi¬ 
dence of His love and compassion. More par¬ 
ticularly, by signs and wonders He evidenced 
His sonship and deity and His right to the 
faith and fellowship of His disciples. 

He set and fixed the entire field of social ser¬ 
vice in its proper order for all time when He 
said: “What shall it profit a man, if he shall 
gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” 
In other words, “What is the advantage of a 
perfect human society on earth, what is the 
worth of the best condition it can offer to the 

77 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


man who has lost his sonl in this world; who, 
while in this world, is dissevered from a Sav¬ 
ior? What shall a social redemption profit to 
the man whose soul misses God because it has 
missed union with His Christ ? ’ ’ 

Repentance. Repentance stands at the en¬ 
trance to the way of life. Mr. Webster defines 
the word ‘‘repent’’ in its theological use “to be 
sorry for sin as morally wrong, and to seek for¬ 
giveness; to renounce the love and practise of 
sin.” This is the sense in which the word is 
commonly used. But a careful analysis of the 
word as used in the original Greek reveals a 
more comprehensive meaning. The Greek word 
for repentance is rnetanoia . Liddel and Scott 
define this word as, “Afterthought, a change 
of mind on reflection: hence repentance. ’’ 
Greenfield in his New Testament Lexicon de¬ 
fines it as “a change of one’s mode of thinking, 
feeling and acting.” Matthew Arnold says: 
“Of rnetanoia , as Jesus used the word, the la¬ 
menting one’s sins was a small part; the main 
part was something far more active and fruit¬ 
ful—the setting up of an immense new inward 
movement for obtaining the rule of life. And 
rnetanoia , accordingly, is a change of the inner 
man. ’ ’ 


78 


THE PROGRAM IN ITS SAVING PROCESSES 


Hence, the crux of Pentecostal preaching 
centered in Peter’s declaration: “Repent ye, 
and be baptized every one of you in the name 
of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; 
and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy 
Spirit.” True repentance therefore is not de¬ 
structive only, but constructive as well. It be¬ 
gins with a sense of personal guilt, pollution, 
and helplessness; is expressed in grief for, and 
hatred of, and a resolute turning away from, 
sin; includes an apprehension of the mercy of 
God through Jesus Christ by which pardon is 
received by faith; and reaches to the utmost 
boundary of the activities of the life in its re¬ 
construction in holiness of life and character. 

Necessity and Scope of Repentance. The 
command to repent is universal and particular 
(Acts 17:30). It is necessary in order to se¬ 
cure pardon of sin (Acts 2:39; 3:19; 8: 32). 
Repentance was preached by Christ (Matt. 4: 
17). It was preached by John the Baptist 
(Matt. 3:2). It was preached by the apostles 
(Mark 6:12; Acts 20:21). It is to be preached 
in the name of Christ (Luke 24:27). The time 
for repentance is now (Isa. 55: 6, 7; 2 Cor. 6: 
2; Heb. 3:7-13). Repentance should be ac¬ 
companied by humility (James 4:9,10). It 

79 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 

should be characterized by self-abhorrence 
(John 42:6). It should be accompanied by 
confession (Job 33: 26-29; Psa. 51: 1-5; 1 John 
1:9). It is to be attended by restitution (Luke 
19:8; Matt. 3:8; Acts 26:20; Isa. 1:16-18). 
Genuine repentance is illustrated by the prodi¬ 
gal son (Luke 15: 17-19); by the publican 
(Luke 18:13) ; by David (2 Sam. 12:13) ; by 
Nineveh (Jonah 3:5-8). False repentance is 
exemplified by Saul (1 Sam. 15:24-30); by 
Ahab (1 Kings 21: 27-29); and by Judas 
(Matt. 27:3-5). 

Regeneration. The Bible from Genesis to 
Revelation places the strongest possible empha¬ 
sis upon the fact that the root of sin strikes 
deep into the heart life of the race. It is not 
that men are not intellectually normal, nor 
that they are deficient in culture, nor lacking 
in an understanding of ethics, but the heart is 
wrong. 

Speaking on the problem of the enforcement 
of the prohibitory law and other reform issues 
Roger W. Babson calls attention to the fact 
that all reform organizations are facing the 
same problem; viz., trying to change the activi¬ 
ties of men and women without changing their 
hearts. He says: “That is why they have an 

80 


THE PROGRAM IN ITS SAVING PROCESSES 


uphill fight and always will until the desires 
of the people change. What does permanently 
change the desires of men and women? Only 
one thing—namely, RELIGION.” Of all the 
religions of the world, the Christian religion is 
the only one of whose converts it can be 
said: “Wherefore if any man is in Christ, 
he is a new creature: the old things are 
passed away; behold, they are become new” 
(2 Cor. 5:17). 

Necessity of Regeneration. The necessity for 
regeneration lies in the state of the heart of the 
natural man. Depravity of heart life caused 
the destruction of the antediluvian world (Gen. 
6:5-7). The unspeakable wickedness and im¬ 
purity of pagan and heathen nations was the 
result of darkness of heart (Rom. 1:21). Over 
and over the judgments which came upon the 
Hebrews were attributed to heart alienation 
from Jehovah (Ezek. 11:17-21). 

Paul drew a life size portrait of the natural 
man in the following words: “Filled with all 
unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, ma¬ 
liciousness ; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, 
malignity; whisperers, backbiters, hateful to 
God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of 
evil things, disobedient to parents, without un- 

81 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 

derstanding, covenant-breakers, without nat¬ 
ural affection, unmerciful” (Rom. 1:29-31). 

A greater than Paul said: “For from with¬ 
in, out of the heart of men, evil thoughts pro¬ 
ceed, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, 
covetings, wickednesses, deceit, lasciviousness, 
an evil eye, railing, pride, foolishness: all these 
evil things proceed from within, and defile the 
man” (Mark 7:21-23). Will reformation meet 
such a compelling need ? Will a gospel of free 
soup and a clean bath produce a requisite ren¬ 
ovation? Will education cleanse such a foun¬ 
tain? Jesus struck straight across all current 
ideals of external cleansing, ceremonial puri¬ 
fications and ritualistic ordinances by declar¬ 
ing that a new birth was the only solution. 
“Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except one be 
born anew (from above), he can not see the 
kingdom of God.” 

The logic is unanswerable. The stream is 
defiled at the fountain. The heart must be 
changed. There must be a new birth (John 
3:3). It is a resurrection from the dead (Eph. 
2:1, 5; Col. 3:1). It is a work wrought by di¬ 
vine power (Titus 3:5). The regenerated man 
is a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17). As Dr. W. 
Robertson Nicoll pertinently remarks: “Chris- 

82 


THE PROGRAM IN ITS SAVING PROCESSES 


tianity begins with the regeneration of the in¬ 
dividual, and has no belief in any regeneration 
of society apart from that. It recognizes the 
deep and fatal wound of humanity. It first 
‘Struck its dart 

At the head of a lie—taught original sin, 

The corruption of man’s heart.’ 

Christianity is either a religion of redemption 
or a dead and powerless nothing. ’ ’ 

Saul of Tarsus. The instantaneous and mi¬ 
raculous change in Saul of Tarsus can not be 
explained on any other ground than that of re¬ 
generation. It was so revolutionary that he 
never forgot the wonder of it nor became 
weary of telling about it. It was a change that 
struck so deep into his consciousness that he 
made it the basis of defense when accused be¬ 
fore kings. Ilis favorite declarations were, “I 
know,” “I am,” and “I believe.” In this he 
was scientifically phychological as well as 
Scriptural. John Stuart Mill said: “The great¬ 
est skeptics have allowed that we must trust 
consciousness.” Sir William Hamilton de¬ 
clared: “That given in consciousness is un¬ 
doubtedly true. ’ ’ 

While it is true that psychology teaches the 
fixedness of habit and permanence of charac- 

83 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


teristic traits with the passing from late adoles¬ 
cence into adult life, yet even the most scien¬ 
tific psychologists admit that new habits can be 
formed under certain conditions. One says an 
upheaval will do it. Prof. James says: “New 
habits can be launched, I have expressly said, 
on condition of there being new stimuli and 
new excitements.” One of Prof. Bain’s old 
maxims is: “In breaking off an old habit or ac¬ 
quiring a new one, we must launch ourselves 
with as strong and decided an initiative as pos¬ 
sible.” This is what actually took place in 
Paul’s consciousness and it is what takes place 
in substance in the consciousness of every one 
who is regenerated by the Spirit of God. The 
conviction of sin and Spirit-wrought transfor¬ 
mation constitutes the upheaval, furnishes the 
impelling stimuli and produces a new initiative 
of sufficient strength to constitute a transfor¬ 
mation of the entire field of consciousness and 
impulses. Psychology calls it excitement; God 
calls it a new birth. 

Conversion. Regeneration is wholly a divine 
work. Conversion is a broader term and in¬ 
cludes those phases of experience wrought by 
man in cooperation with God. On the divine 
side it begins in repentance and includes regen- 

84 


THE PROGRAM IN ITS SAVING PROCESSES 


eration and the experiences theologically called 
justification, adoption and the witness of the 
Spirit. On the human side it includes repen¬ 
tance, restitution, faith and obedience. 

Jesus said: “Verily I say unto you, Except 
ye turn, and become as little children, ye shall 
in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven.’’ 
In other words to be converted is to turn away 
from the habits of sin toward the traits of char¬ 
acter found in a child; such as, humility, free¬ 
dom from selfish ambition, simple trust, and 
confidence, affection, dependence, teachable¬ 
ness, and obedience. Conversion, then, is a 
life calling, and its end—character. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

In what sense is this a needy world? How did 
Jesus meet these needs? Compare the laws of nat¬ 
ural and spiritual life. Define repentance. Discuss 
the necessity and scope of repentance. Upon what 
truth does the necessity of regeneration rest? What 
is the teaching value of the conversion of Saul? 
How can the regeneration of society be brought 
about? What single fact refutes every argument 
against the reality of conversion? 


85 


Holiness or entire sanctificatio'n is the application 
of redemption to the depraved, corrupt nature in 
which we were horn. It is that feature of salvation 
which lies hack of pardon, which is for an act, and 
hack of justification, which refers to our adjusted 
relations; it relates to our depravity. For the in¬ 
heritance of our depravity we are not responsible. 
We never committed the sin that produced it, and 
can not repent of being so horn, nor seek pardon for 
it. God's remedy is cleansing, called “entire sanc¬ 
tification,” “holiness,” “perfect love” On the side 
of man it is through consecration and faith. On 
the part of God it is the application of the cleansing 
blood. Entire sanctification makes us morally pure 
from our inherited depravity. It destroys the old 
man of sin, the carnal mind. The subject is per¬ 
fect as to the kind of his Christianity or religion, 
yet not in such a way that the measure of it can 
not he increased. He is holy in the sense that he is 
morally pure. He is sinless in the sense that his 
past sinful acts have all been pardoned, and his cor¬ 
rupt nature cleansed. He is blameless in the sense 
that God sees in his pardoned and cleansed soul 
nothing condemned by the gospel law. As to his 
love, it is perfect in the sense that he loves with all 
the heart, mind, soul, and strength, and in the sense 
that “love is the fulfilling of the law.” As to prog¬ 
ress, he is growing in it. — Rev. Isaiah Reid. 


86 


CHAPTER VII 


THE PROGRAM IN ITS SAVING PROCESSES—• 

Continued 

The Place of the Holy Spirit. The progres¬ 
sive revelation of sonship privileges in the di¬ 
vine program is most clearly shown in the 
saving offices of the Holy Spirit. As has been 
noted, God is self-conscious as Father, Son and 
Holy Spirit. “In these three subsistences of 
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, there is nothing 
antecedent and consequent. The three are co- 
eternally equal in all essential being. But, in 
the relations of time, this can not be said. In 
function they are not equal. In the order of 
revelation, redemptive grace, and historic de¬ 
velopment, the Father preceded the Son, and 
the Son preceded the Holy Spirit. From the 
standpoint of function, or official action, the 
Father is basal and supreme over the Son and 
Holy Spirit (John 14:16,17). All grace orig¬ 
inates in the Father, is mediated through the 
Son (John 3:16), and is applied by the Holy 
Spirit (John 16:14,15).’’ 

S7 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


The second Person was given the unique posi¬ 
tion and title of ‘ ‘ The only Begotten Son ’ ’ and 
is to attain to a universal divine imperialism 
(Dan. 7 :13,14; Phil. 2 : 9-11; 1 Tim. 6 :14-16), 
but the third Person is never mentioned in con¬ 
nection with the imperial prerogatives of 
thrones, dominions or kingdoms. As will ap¬ 
pear in the following paragraphs, His work is 
in connection with the saving processes of re¬ 
demption, particularly regeneration, sanctifica¬ 
tion and promoting the progressive vital life of 
the believer. 

The Ministry of the Holy Spirit Before Pen¬ 
tecost. Just as God the Son was present and 
efficient in the Old Testament period, so the 
Holy Spirit was said to “come upon” and to 
“rest upon” certain characters; i. e., Gideon 
(Judg. 6:34) ; Othniel (Judg. 3:10) ; Samson 
(Judg. 15 :14) ; Simeon (Luke 2 : 25, 26). He 
gave inspiration to the prophets (2 Pet. 1:21). 
John was filled with the Holy Spirit from birth 
(Luke 1:15), yet specifically emphasized a dis¬ 
tinctive baptism yet to come (Matt. 3 :11). Je¬ 
sus was anointed by the Holy Spirit (Acts 10: 
38) ; had the Holy Spirit descend upon Him 
(Matt. 3: 16); was full of the Holy Spirit 
(Luke 4:1); received the Holy Spirit without 

88 


THE PROGRAM IN ITS SAVING PROCESSES 


measure (John 3:34) ; but it is never stated 
that He was baptized with the Holy Spirit but 
is named as the Baptizer (Matt. 3 :11). He had 
no sin, hence did not need to receive a fire-puri¬ 
fying experience. 

Finally, after the resurrection of Christ 
through the power of the Holy Spirit (1 Pet. 
3:18), Jesus breathed upon the men who had 
forsaken and denied Him in the hour of His 
trial and said, “Receive ye the Holy Spirit” 
(John 20:22). As God breathed into Adam 
His own life-communing Spirit, so Jesus 
breathed upon His disciples His own resurrec¬ 
tion Spirit, making them partakers of the God- 
life, as is the case in all regenerated persons 
(Eph. 2:5). That this divine impartation was 
not the promised gift of the Holy Spirit is 
proved by the later command to tarry until 
that gift was bestowed (Acts 1:4). 

The Promise of the Father. The night of the 
betrayal, Jesus told His disciples of His ap¬ 
proaching departure, but hastened to reassure 
their sinking hearts by saying that through 
His intercession the Father would send an¬ 
other Comforter, the Spirit of truth, and that 
this Comforter would abide with them forever 
as a Teacher, a Helper, and the divine Ener- 

89 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


gizer, imparting peace and joy (John 14, 15, 
16). Jesus called this the promise of the Father 
(Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4). It is evident, then, 
that the distinctive coming of the Holy Spirit 
as promised by John and by Jesus was a dis- 
pensational blessing. Paul taught that it was 
such (Gal. 3:14). Isaiah foretold such a bless¬ 
ing (Isa. 44:3). Ezekiel described its scope 
(Ezek. 36: 25-27). Joel added his prophecy 
concerning the same truth (Joel 2: 28, 29), the 
fulfilment being attested by Peter on the Day 
of Pentecost (Acts 2:16-21). John the Bap¬ 
tist, in harmony with the progressive character 
of revelation, announced that the age-long 
promise was a purifying baptism to be admin¬ 
istered by Christ (Matt. 3:11,12). 

After the resurrection Jesus spent forty 
days with His disciples, showing “himself alive 
after his passion by many proofs,” “speaking 
the things concerning the kingdom of God” 
(Acts 1:5), culminating in the hour of His as¬ 
cension when He told them not to depart from 
Jerusalem, “but to wait for the promise of the 
Father, which said he, ye have heard from me: 
for John indeed baptized with water; but ye 
shall be baptized in (with) the Holy Spirit not 
many days hence” (Acts 1:4, 5). The conclu- 

90 


THE PROGRAM IN ITS SAVING PROCESSES 


sion is logical and clear. The dispensational 
promise of the Father; the Spirit baptism fore¬ 
told by John to be bestowed by Christ; the 
promised gift of the Comforter by Jesus, are 
all identical and consummated in the Pente¬ 
costal effusion. 

The Scope of the Pentecostal Baptism. 

Matthew tells us that following the resurrection 
Jesus informed His disciples that all power in 
heaven and in earth had been given to Him 
and by virtue of that authority He then and 
there commissioned them to go and make dis¬ 
ciples of all nations, asserting that He would 
be with them to the consummation of the age. 
Luke specifies the character of the teaching 
message (Luke 24:47), and then adds the re¬ 
newal of the promise of the Father and the be- 
stowment of power to insure the success of 
their task. It seems clear therefore that the 
scope of the Pentecostal baptism of the Holy 
Spirit includes two definite specific things— 
purity and power. Purity and power are in¬ 
ward and outward phases of the same spiritual 
state. Subjectively, purity is static; objectively 
it is dynamic. 

1. The Pentecostal baptism was a sanctify¬ 
ing grace. John called it a baptism of fire. Fire 

91 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 

w.4. 


purifies. Peter called it a purifying experi¬ 
ence for the Gentiles as well as for the Jews 
(Acts 15:8). The gift of the Holy Spirit to 
Cornelius, the outpouring of the Spirit on the 
Day of Pentecost, and the promised fire-puri¬ 
fying baptism of John were all one (Acts 11: 
15,16). Sanctification of the Spirit was in¬ 
cluded in the work of salvation in the preex¬ 
istent plan of God (2 Thess. 2:13; 1 Pet. 1:2). 
Paul was given a special ministry to the Gen¬ 
tiles, “ministering the gospel of God, that the 
offering up of the Gentiles might be made ac¬ 
ceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost’’ 
(Rom. 15:16). “Paul preached to them, and 
dealt with them; but that which made them 
sacrifices to God was their sanctification; and 
this was not his work, but the work of the Holy 
Ghost. ’ ’— Henry. 

2. The Pentecostal baptism was an empow¬ 
ering baptism. Jesus said it would be for that 
purpose (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8). It became 
power to Peter and his company on the Day of 
Pentecost and three thousand were convicted of 
sin and converted (Acts 2: 37-43). This power 
accompanied Paul’s ministry (1 Thess. 1:5). 
“We can not wonder that fire is taken for a 
symbol of power. Who that has looked upon a 

92 


THE PROGRAM IN ITS SAVING PROCESSES 

terrible conflagration as it marches on in its 
devouring way, but has felt overwhelmed by 
the presence of an agent so much mightier than 
himself? So when, on the Day of Pentecost, 
‘cloven tongues like as of fire’ sat upon each of 
the disciples, the meaning was that, by the 
burning earnestness and fiery force of their 
speech, they should be the means of carrying 
forward the work of God in the world in the 
face of fiercest opposition.” 

Nature of Sanctification. The New Testa¬ 
ment expression which is used repeatedly to de¬ 
fine Christ’s redemptive work is, “remission of 
sins.” Dr. Adam Clarke commenting on this 
expression as found in Matthew 26:28 says: 
“The phrase, aphesis ton hamartion, remis¬ 
sion of sins (frequently used by the Septua- 
gint) being thus explained by our Lord, is 
often used by the evangelists and the apostles; 
and does not mean merely the pardon of sins, 
as it is generally understood, but the removal 
or taking away of sins, not only the guilt, but 
also the very nature of sin, and the pollution 
of the soul through it; and comprehends all 
that is generally understood by the terms justi¬ 
fication and sanctification.” 

Again, the same authority commenting on 

93 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 

this expression as found in Acts 10:43 savs: 
“The phrase, aphesis Jiamartion, means sim¬ 
ply the taking away of sins; and this does not 
refer to the guilt of sin merely, but also to its 
power, nature and consequences. All that is 
implied in pardon of sin, destruction of its * 
tyranny, and purification of its pollution, is 
here intended; and it is wrong to restrict such 
operations of mercy to pardon alone. ’ ’ 

Attention has been called to Paul’s state¬ 
ment of the scope of redemption in Titus 2:11, 
12. It is clear that the saving processes of re¬ 
demption include two distinct experiences—re¬ 
demption from iniquity and purification. Hence, 
a right division of the word of truth proclaims 
pardon for the sinner and cleansing for the 
saint. The coming of the Holy Spirit into the 
hearts of men as sanctifier and comforter is 
“the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of 
Christ” (Rom. 15:29). It is the consumma¬ 
tion of the work of God in dealing with sin in 
the individual; it is the re-stamping of the be¬ 
liever ’s heart with the image of the Creator; it 
is the fulfilment of every prophecy and promise 
of spiritual proximity to God; it is the anti¬ 
type of every heritage and grace of the ages 
past. 


94 


THE PROGRAM IN ITS SAVING PROCESSES 


Sanctification is Human and Divine. The 

Scriptural basis for the human part is em¬ 
braced in the following command: ‘ ‘ For I am 
Jehovah your God: sanctify yourselves there¬ 
fore, and be ye holy; for I am holy” (Lev. 11: 
44). Self-sanctification is a double work. On 
the one hand it is crucifixion or death to sin; 
on the other hand it is devotement to God. The 
first of these is taught in a large number of 
Scriptures of which the following is a fair sam¬ 
ple: “Having therefore these promises, be¬ 
loved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defile¬ 
ment of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in 
the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:11). The second, 
commonly called consecration, is taught in a 
class of Scriptures of which the following is a 
type: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by 
the mercies of God, to present your bodies a 
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which 
is your spiritual service” (Rom. 12:1). 

The Scope of Sanctification. This is very 
clearly and beautifully brought out in a study 
of the terms “perfect” and “perfection” as 
used in the New Testament. Reference to any 
standard Greek-English dictionary reveals the 
fact that the English words “perfect” and 
“perfection” are used interchangeably for two 

95 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


Greek words differing radically in their mean¬ 
ing. One word means to adjust, replace or re¬ 
joint. The other means full-grown, scope or 
enlargement. 

1. The perfection of adjustment. The di¬ 
vine program demands the reinstatement of 
the race to complete conformity to the divine 
nature which is holy. Through sin, man is in¬ 
herently out of joint with moral rectitude. As 
a sinner he seeks and obtains pardon for his 
sins and the act of conversion includes the theo¬ 
logical state of justification which is the adjust¬ 
ment of the sinner to the law. As such a par¬ 
doned, regenerated, justified subject of grace 
he is commanded to seek and obtain moral 
purity, entire sanctification by the Holy Spirit, 
thereby being restored to complete harmony 
with God. Entire sanctification constitutes per¬ 
fection of adjustment by the elimination of all 
sin from the heart. The word translated ‘ ‘ per¬ 
fect/’ but which means adjustment, is used in 
the following references (2 Tim. 3:16,17; 1 
Thess. 3:10; Heb. 13:21). 

2. The perfection of scope or enlargement. 
The blade of corn may be perfectly adjusted in 
relation to soil, climatic conditions and the 
power of corn life, yet it has not reached the 

96 


TIIE PROGRAM IN ITS SAVING PROCESSES 


full corn in the ear. Perfection of adjustment 
is necessary to perfection of enlargement. An 
infant may receive the blue ribbon as a perfect 
babe under the test of the highest eugenic stan¬ 
dards, yet he is not a full-grown man. The di¬ 
vine program for the believer is to grow in 
grace, to go from grace to grace, to “go on 
unto perfection” (full age), “unto a fullgrown 
(perfect) man” (Epli. 4: 11-15). Such char¬ 
acters are the citizens of that spiritual com¬ 
monwealth known in its subjective operations 
as the kingdom of God, and, being made per¬ 
fect in “storm and pain and test” will come 
to the climax of “perfect sainthood” in the 
final universe. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

What was the work of the Holy Spirit before Pen¬ 
tecost? In w’hat sense was the promise of the Fa¬ 
ther a dispensational blessing? What two tilings 
were imparted to the disciples through the Pente¬ 
costal bestowment? What is sanctification? Define 
perfection of adjustment. Define perfection of scope. 
Why tarry until endued with power? 


97 


What is the real character of our present civiliza¬ 
tion? We may as well face the facts. Gigantic as 
it is in invention, discovery, enterprise, achievement, 
it is gigantically worldly; sometimes and some- 
wheres, monstrously God-denying and God-defying. 
This “Christian civilization” has indeed produced 
giants in these days, men of renown; but they often 
use their intellect, knowledge and fame, only to 
break down, as with the iron flail of Talus, all Chris¬ 
tian faith. Philosophy now blooms into a refined and 
poetic pantheism, or a gross, blank materialism, or 
a subtle rationalism, or an absurd agnosticism. 
Science constructs its systems of evolution and 
leaves out a personal God; spontaneous generation 
becomes the only Creator, natural law the only de¬ 
termining power, and natural selection the only 
providence. Such men as Strauss and Renan, Hegel 
and Comte, Goethe and Kant, Mill and Spencer, Dar¬ 
win and Huxley, Matthew Arnold and Theodore 
Parker, are specimens of. men tvho owe their educa¬ 
tion, refinement, accomplishments, to the very Chris¬ 
tianity they attack; the cubs first nurse the dam 
and then turn and strike their fangs into her breast. 
.... We have the ripest form of worldly civilization , 
but the ripeness borders on rottenness. While men 
boast of the massiveness of the fabric, its founda¬ 
tions are falling into decay; and that awful anarchy 
ivhich is the last result of atheism, even now threat¬ 
ens to dissolve society itself. — Dr. A. T. Pierson. 


98 


\ 


CHAPTER VIII 

THE PROGRAM AND THE PRESENT AGE 

The World System. The term translated 
world, from the Greek Jcosmos, has several 
meanings in the New Testament. The sense in 
which it is used is usually made very clear in 
ihe context or connection. Sometimes it refers 
to the material creation (John 1:10; Acts 17: 
24), either of this planet or of the entire uni¬ 
verse. It is used to mean the political Roman 
empire (Luke 2:1). It is used to mean the 
population or people of the w r orld without spe¬ 
cial reference to character (Matt. 13:38; John 
3:16). It is used to define that portion of the 
race under the domination of the evil one, 
hence the ruling principle which resists the 
gospel to the end (Matt. 4:8; John 15:18; 1 
Cor. 2:12; 1 John 2 :16,17). 

The Greek word aion meaning age is some¬ 
times translated world (Matt. 24:3; 1 Tim. 6: 
17). The outstanding teaching on this point 
is that there is a world system opposed to the 
church and Christ. This world system is called 

99 



> > > 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 

“the course of this world” (Eph. 2:2); is 
characterized by hatred of Christ (John 7:7); 
is from beneath rather than from heaven (John 
8:23) ; can not receive the Holy Spirit (John 
14:17) ; believers are not of it in the sense of 
being controlled by it (John 15:19; 17 :14) ; is 
a kingdom distinct and separate from the king¬ 
dom of Christ (John 18:36); the believer is 
crucified to it by the cross of Christ (Gpl. 6: 
14; Col. 2:20) ; friendship with it and friend¬ 
ship with God absolutely incompatible (James 
4:4) ; its influence is corrupting (2 Pet. 1:4; 
2:20); its outstanding characteristics are the 
lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the 
pride of life (1 John 2:16), and is destined to 
pass away (1 John 2:17). 

“This wonderful system has worlds within 
worlds. We hear of the world of business, the 
world of politics, the world of fashion, the 
w r orld of pleasure, the world of science, the 
world of sport, the world of finance, the world 
of music, the world of literature; the dramatic 
world, the social world, the industrial world, 
the commercial world, the religious world. 

“In such a system there is something for 
every one, with a single exception. In the en¬ 
tire system there is nothing for God’s Perfect 

100 


THE PROGRAM AND THE PRESENT AGE 


Man. For Him this system had nothing; no 
place at the inn, no place to lay His head— 
nothing but a manger, a cross, and a tomb. Be¬ 
tween Him and this world system there was 
nothing in common. Consequently, when the 
time arrived for Him to say, ‘ This is your hour, 
and the power of darkness’ (Luke 22: 53), the 
leaders and representatives of the world’s cul¬ 
ture, the world’s intelligence, the world’s prog¬ 
ress, the world’s power, and the world’s relig¬ 
ion, led Him with expressive ceremony ‘ outside 
the camp’ and nailed Him to the tree. ‘And 
they sat and watched him there’ ” (Matt. 
27 : 36 ).—Philip Mauro. 

The Head of the World System. To think of 
Satan as a leering, repulsive personality with 
horns and tail and pitchfork is a delusion more 
pleasing to his satanic majesty than any one 
else, for such conceptions only add to his power 
to deceive. Originally one of the first, if not 
the first of the archangels, he still retains tre¬ 
mendous power and the art of transforming 
himself into such an innocent and captivating 
angel of light as to deceive, at times, the very 
elect. 

His Scriptural biography reads as follows: 
cast out of heaven (Luke 10: 18); opposes 

101 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


God’s work (1 Thess. 2:18) ; hinders the gos¬ 
pel (Matt. 13:19); works lying wonders (2 
Thess. 2:9). He is described as being power¬ 
ful (Eph. 2:2); subtle (2 Cor. 11:3); and 
should be resisted (James 4:7). Above all he 
is specifically declared to be the head of the 
world system. Three times Jesus called him 
the prince of this world (John 12:31; 14:30; 
16:11). Paul calls him the god of this world 
(2 Cor. 4:4) ; and “the prince of the powers 
of the air, of the spirit that now worketh in 
the sons of disobedience” (Eph. 2:2). He is 
the self-confessed head of the world system 
(Matt. 4:9), and in resisting the temptation 
presented Jesus did not deny the truth of the 
statement. 

Finally, Paul presents the picture of a 
mighty confederation of evil (Eph. 6:11,12). 
The conflict of the church is not with men in 
the body but with spiritual beings, organized 
powers, the invisible lords of the world. First 
is the devil; then follow principalities, powers, 
the “world-lords of the darkness of this age or 
dispensation, ’ ’ and wicked spirits in high 
places. At the head of this mighty confedera¬ 
tion of evil forces stands Satan, the anointed 
cherub who was upon the holy mountain of 

102 


THE PROGRAM AND THE PRESENT AGE 


God and walked in the midst of the stones of 
fire perfectly until iniquity was found in him 
(Ezek. 28:14,15). 

Satan’s Program. The divine program em¬ 
braces the calling, development, and ultimate 
glorification of the sons of God of a human-di¬ 
vine order, at the head of which will be God’s 
Son, the divine imperialist of the coming re¬ 
generated universe. 

God is infinitely regal in a personality self- 
motivated by infinite wisdom and infinitely 
holy choices. Man is finitely regal in a per¬ 
sonality self-motivated by choices, the nature 
of which determines his destiny. By the very 
nature of the case, the eligibility of man to be 
a partaker of, and a sharer in, the exalted rela¬ 
tionship of sonship, must turn upon his per¬ 
sonal choice. Hence, in every phase of the 
progressive unfolding of God’s plan, the recep¬ 
tion of God’s offers and gifts rest upon man’s 
acceptance of them and upon the resultant 
obedience to God. 

Ever taking advantage of this power of 
choice and in active opposition to the divine 
program of the kingdom of the heavens with 
Christ as King and a holy citizenship composed 
of redeemed and purified sons, stands Satan 

103 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


and his world system called the kingdom of 
darkness. 

As an angel of light he seduced the first pair 
through the plausible suggestion that self-de¬ 
velopment comes through the acquisition of 
knowledge. ‘‘Ye shall be as God, knowing good 
and evil” (Gen. 3:5). The gospel of self was 
the result. Abel brought a sin-offering in wor¬ 
ship and was accepted. Cain, despising a sin- 
offering as beneath the dignity of a being know¬ 
ing good and evil, brought a eucharistic offer¬ 
ing and was rejected. The Sethites, successors 
to Abel, produced Enoch who walked with God, 
a type of the spiritual sons who renounce alle¬ 
giance to the god of this world. The Cainites, 
inspired by the god of this world, founded the 
first civilization, built cities, became the pa¬ 
trons of art, music, trades and agriculture 
(Gen. 4:16-22), and perished in the flood be¬ 
cause of moral corruption. God has in pros¬ 
pect a pattern “man” to be a shadow of a 
great rock in a weary land (Isa. 32:2). Sa¬ 
tan’s program is to make the natural man— 
sin’s man—this longed-for and dreamed-of 
man. 

In every age, from the days of Cain, this 
mark of Satan’s world system can be easily 

104 


THE PROGRAM AND THE PRESENT AGE 


traced. The Nimrods, the Ishmaels, the Neb- 
uchadnezzars, the Ctesars, the Napoleons, the 
Aristotles, the Platos mark the successive steps 
in the program. We have now reached the age 
of the wonder man, the superman, the creative 
man, who, by the sheer power of his matchless 
intellect, has mastered the mysteries of life, 
made the air his playground, the bottom of the 
sea his highway and the bowels of the earth his 
treasure vault. Over all is thrown the en- 
trancingly beautiful mask called civilization— 
Christian civilization, if you please. All the 
world wonders after it in its power, but, while 
its shibboleth is world-brotherhood and human¬ 
ism, it carries the mark of the beast, for its 
heart is black with hate, vile with lust, corrupt 
with treachery, cruel with selfishness, and de¬ 
fiant with impiety, for, “are we not as God, 
knowing good and evil ? ? ’ 

The Battle at the Gates. Three gateways 
guard the city of Man-soul. They are the 
gates of power, purpose, and piety. The fall 
resulted through the Satanic assault made up¬ 
on all three of these gateways. “And when 
the woman saw that the tree was good for food 
(power), and that it was a delight to the eyes 
(purpose), and that the tree was desired to 

105 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


make one wise (piety), she took of the fruit 
thereof’’ (Gen. 3:6). 

The second Adam battled at the same gates 
with the same adversary (Luke 4:1-13). Study 
this sanguinary struggle. Note the first assault 
upon the weakened, hunger-tortured Christ at 
the gate of power. Just a few days before He 
had been recognized by John as the Lamb of 
God, had been acknowledged as the divine Son 
by a voice from heaven and publicly declared 
to be the Son of God with power by the Holy 
Spirit’s descending upon Him. Now PROVE it! 
DEMONSTRATE it! Power has its peril. Sa¬ 
tan ever seeks the perversion of the good. Hun¬ 
ger is legitimate but stones were not intended 
for bread. Bread making is a lawful industry, 
but not at the sacrifice of obedience to the di¬ 
vine order. Divine authority and the end of 
power must not be sacrificed on the altar of 
personal gratification. “What doth it profit a 
man, to gain the whole world, and forfeit his 
life” (Mar. 8:36). 

The second assault is at the gate of purpose. 
Christ was the predestined, predicted, and pro¬ 
posed conqueror of the world. Why look for¬ 
ward with shrinking spirit to the agony of 
Gethsemane? Why be obsessed with the prox- 

106 


THE PROGRAM AND THE PRESENT AGE 


imity of a cruel cross? Why suffer the taunts 
and reproaches of a heartless world ? Acknowl¬ 
edge my supremacy, says the artful tempter, 
and the glory of the kingdoms of the world 
shall be thine at one stroke. Which is the win¬ 
ning principle in the end—compromise or sac¬ 
rifice ? 

The final struggle is at the gate of piety. It 
strikes at the very foundation of divine revela¬ 
tion. It seeks to make man independent of 
God. It is the problem of authority. The mod¬ 
ern putting is to say that in the dim and shad¬ 
owy past men thought God was a mysterious 
being who appeared to Abraham in visions, to 
Jacob in dreams and to Moses in mirages in the 
desert, but now great Pan is dead, morals are 
static, inspiration is ancient history and the 
sovereign voice of authority is within man and 
not without. But where the first Adam fell, 
the second Adam stood, and Satan’s failure in 
the wilderness is a prophecy of that ultimate 
and final failure which is to come (Heb. 2:14; 
1 John 3:8; Rev. 12:9-11). 

Present Aspects of the Divine Program. This 
Satan-dominated age is the world’s night 
(Rom. 13:12; Eph. 5: 8,11). But God’s age¬ 
long program, divinely operative, supernat- 

107 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


urally efficient, and destined to ultimate and 
glorious victory, still stands. God is now visit¬ 
ing “the Gentiles, to take out of them a people 
for his name” (Acts 15 :14). 

The divine agencies for the accomplishment 
of this purpose are the Word, the Holy Spirit 
and the church. The gospel is the divine word 
of good news that salvation is now possible for 
all men, this salvation being obtainable only 
through the meritorious death of Jesus Christ. 
This is received through the voluntary accept¬ 
ance of the believer by faith. The Holy Spirit 
energizes this word to make it potent and con¬ 
vinces men of sin. The church in its organic 
structure is so insignificant a feature of the 
program that the form of that structure is 
largely left to accident and necessity. But the 
real church, the true ekklesia , the body of 
Christ, formed by this announcement of the 
Word and the divine energy of the Holy Spirit, 
is the new exodus called the chosen generation, 
a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar 
people, the people of God (1 Pet. 2: 9,10), con¬ 
stituted such through the process of redemp¬ 
tion and the new birth (1 Pet. 1:18-23). 

Instead of this body dispelling all the dark¬ 
ness of the age, it is to be the bearer of light in 

108 


THE PROGRAM AND THE PRESENT AGE 

the darkness (Matt. 5:14; 25:1-10; 2 Cor. 4: 
3; Phil. 2:15). It is to be the seed bearer, but 
instead of that seed becoming sweepingly fruit¬ 
ful, three-fourths of it may be expected to be 
lost (Matt. 13 :1-8). It is to be the reincarna¬ 
tion of Christ, but for that very reason opposed 
by the world (John 17 :14; 1 John 3 :1; 2 Cor. 
4: 8-12). It is to be a habitation of God 
through the Spirit, but instead of all men 
speedily becoming a part of that habitation, 
they will despise it (1 Cor. 2:6-14; 4:9-13). 
It is to be a witness to the truth, but that wit¬ 
ness will not convince all, for wickedness and 
apostacy will increase more and more (1 Tim. 
4:1-3; 2 Tim. 3 :1-6; 2 Pet. 2 :1-22). 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

What is meant by the Scriptural expression, “the 
course of this world”? What is the work of Satan? 
Where is the point of antagonism between God’s 
program and Satan’s? What are the three gate¬ 
ways of Satanic assault? What divine agencies are 
operating against the world system? How may the 
temptation of Christ be made a challenge and a call 
to heroic service to young people? 


109 


It is here that Christianity asserts itself with a 
supreme individuality. It is here that it parts com¬ 
pany with civilization, with politics, with all sec¬ 
ular schemes of social reform. In its diagnosis of 
human nature it finds that which most other sys¬ 
tems ignore; which, if they see, they can not cure; 
which, left undestroyed, makes every reform futile, 
and every inspiration vain. That thing is sin. Chris¬ 
tianity, of all other philanthropies, recognizes that 
man's devouring need is liberty—liberty to stop sin¬ 
ning ; to leave the prison of his passions, and shake 
off the fetters of his past. To surround captives 
with statues and pictures, to “offer them that are 
bound'' a higher wage or a cleaner street or a few 
more cubic feet of air per head, is solemn trifling. 
It is a cleaner soul they leant; a purer air, or any 
air at all, for their higher selves. And where the 
cleaner soul is to come from apart from Christ I can 
not tell. “By no political alchemy," Herbert Spen¬ 
cer tells us, “can you get golden conduct out of 
leaden instincts." The power to set the heart right, 
to renew the springs of action, comes from Christ. 
The sense of the infinite worth of the single soul, 
and the recoverableness of man at his worst, are the 
gifts of Christ. The freedom from guilt, the forgive¬ 
ness of sins, come from Christ's cross; the hope of 
immortality springs from Christ's grave. — Prof. 
Henry Drummond. 


110 


CHAPTER IX 


THE PROGRAM AND EVANGELIZATION 

God’s Method of Revelation. Unwelcome as 
the statement is to the natural man, and hu¬ 
miliating as it is to the carnal pride of intellect, 
the Bible stresses the fact that man needs a 
teaching program bearing upon his origin, his 
nature, his obligation, and his destiny. The 
world in its wisdom can not discern the true 
God nor the nature of spiritual worship (Matt. 
11:25; Rom. 1:19; 1 Cor. 1:21). The method 
of revelation is to reveal this program progres¬ 
sively from generation to generation, ever rec¬ 
ognizing the moral agency of man by allowing 
him the largest possible degree of freedom of 
choice. Hence, each generation lias had its 
measure of saving truth, character and destiny 
being determined by individual acceptance or 
rejection of that truth. 

As a result we have the record of man’s ef¬ 
fort to save himself stamped upon the succes¬ 
sive periods of the life of nations. Man has 
been tested in the periods of innocency, con- 

111 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 

science, human government, promise, law, and 
grace with a record of moral failure in every 
one. Humanity has made progress through all 
of these; great nations, with civilizations of su¬ 
perb grandeur and permanent contributions to 
succeeding nations, have functioned and died; 
the world has found the lure of the tempter 
deliriously fascinating as it has gone on acquir¬ 
ing knowledge; but the moral blindness has re¬ 
mained unbroken save as the hand of God has 
lifted the veil and the divine Voice has spoken 
(Heb. 1:1). 

But keeping pace with the intellectual de¬ 
velopment of the race and the widening, deep¬ 
ening stream of civilization, has been God’s 
teaching program. This program witnessed to 
the fact of the one true God, unfolded the 
thrilling story of man’s relation to God, and 
gradually revealed the divine plan of redemp¬ 
tion which reached its climax in the God-man. 
Luke is careful to tell us that his gospel was 
a narration of the “doings” and the “teach¬ 
ings” of Jesus. These “doings” culminated in 
His sacrifice on the cross (John 19:30). These 
“teachings” culminated in His profound dec¬ 
laration of the spirituality of God and His wor¬ 
ship (John 4: 23, 24) ; the command to world- 

112 


THE PROGRAM AND EVANGELIZATION 


wide witnessing for the church (Matt. 28:19); 
and the fact of His personal return (John 14: 
3; Acts 1:11). 

Abraham, the Teaching Pilgrim. Stephen 
tells us that the God of glory appeared to Abra¬ 
ham when he was living in Mesopotamia and 
told him to leave his country and family and 
move to an unknown land which God would 
later make known to him. That pilgrimage was 
disciplinary, typical, and didactic. To Abra¬ 
ham it was the test of obedience and the devel¬ 
opment of that faith which made him what he 
was as the friend of God. To the believers of 
every age it was the type of that divine per¬ 
sonal calling to a separated, pilgrim life in this 
world. To the world it was the first great les¬ 
son in the teaching program of missionary 
evangelism which was destined to bring bless¬ 
ings to all the families of the earth. 

The fundamental truth embraced in this in¬ 
itial lesson was monotheism. All other items 
included in the greatness of Abraham’s charac¬ 
ter—his faith, his patriarchal position as the 
father of a nation, his unique position as the 
distant progenitor of the Messiah in His human 
genealogy, each of these and others, trace back 
to his belief in El Shaddai, the Almighty. 

113 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


As cold a critic as Max Muller is compelled 
to pay the following tribute to Abraham \s lofty 
conception of the one God: 4 ‘ How is the fact to 
be explained that the three greatest religions 
of the world, in which the unity of the deity 
forms the keynote, are of Semitic origin ? Mo¬ 
hammedanism, no doubt, is a Semitic religion, 
and its very core is monotheism. But did Ma¬ 
homet invent monotheism? Did he invent a 
new name of God? Not at all. And how is it 
with Christianity? Did Christ come to preach 
faith in a new God? Did He or His disciples 
invent a new name of God? No. Christ came, 
not to destroy but to fulfil, and the God whom 
He preached was the God of Abraham. And 
who is the God of Jeremiah, of Elijah, and of 
Moses? We answer again: the God of Abra¬ 
ham. Thus the faith in the one living God 
which seemed to require the admission of a 
monotheistic instinct, grafted in every member 
of the Semitic family, is traced back to one man; 
to him ‘in whom all the families of the earth 
shall be blessed. ’ And if from our earliest child¬ 
hood we have looked upon Abraham, the friend 
of God, with love and veneration, his venerable 
figure will assume still more majestic propor¬ 
tions, when we see in him the life-spring of that 

114 


THE PROGRAM AND EVANGELIZATION 


faith which was to unite all the nations of the 
earth, and the author of that blessing which was 
to come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ. 
And if we are asked how this one Abraham 
passed, through the denial of all other gods, to 
the knowledge of the one God, we are content 
to answer that it was by a special revelation, 
granted to that one man, and handed down by 
him to Jews, Christians, and Mohammedans, to 
all who believe in the God of Abraham.” 

Moses, the Teaching Lawgiver. Rev. H. L. 
Hastings said: ‘ ‘ Whatever may be thought or 
said of the Jewish race to-day as compared 
with other nations, for centuries this was the 
sole and solitary people who worshiped one 
God; and the law of Moses was the only law 
which prohibited the debasing and obscene 
idolatries which cursed and defiled the world, 
and blasted the social, domestic and personal 
life of the nations round about them. And 
theirs is the only code of ancient laws which 
had in it the elements of endurance and perpe¬ 
tuity. Who cares to-day for the laws of the 
Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the 
Persians and the Greeks? To return to them 
would be barbarism, immorality and crime. 

“But the law that was thundered from 

115 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 

Mount Sinai still stands above the highest level 
of any existing national life, and still the an¬ 
cient challenge may be uttered, ‘What nation 
is there so great, that hath statutes and judg¬ 
ments so righteous as all this law, which I set 
before you this day?’ (Deut. 4:8). The laws 
of the heathen nations have sunk beneath con¬ 
tempt, while the essential provisions of the Mo¬ 
saic law have entered into the jurisprudence of 
the civilized world. Upon this foundation of 
revealed law all human law rests; and the laws 
under which we live are based upon these spe¬ 
cific divine commandments, rather than upon 
the deductions of ethical theorists and teachers; 
and thus the laws given by Moses to-day have 
a sway far wider than they ever had in the 
palmiest days of Israel’s nationality.” 

Israel, the Teaching Nation. By divine pur¬ 
pose, Israel was located “in the midst of the 
nations.” She was “located so as to come in 
contact with, but not to be dominated by other 
nations; to influence and be influenced, but not 
controlled.” The world’s traffic routes passed 
through Palestine and Israel’s opportunity as 
a teaching nation in the world was a divinely 
bestowed providence. 

In fact, the student can not make a study of 

116 


THE PROGRAM AND EVANGELIZATION 


any phase of the national, civil, or religious life 
of the Hebrews without coming into direct con¬ 
tact with the teaching feature of their life and 
history. The period of bondage in Egypt, the 
forty years’ wandering in the wilderness, the 
entire Levitical economy, the prestige secured 
during the reign of Solomon as illustrated in 
the visit of the Queen of Sheba, the periods of 
captivity—these were so many doors for dis¬ 
seminating the truth of Jehovah among the na¬ 
tions. 

This teaching feature stands out most prom¬ 
inently in the prophets. Major and minor mes¬ 
sengers carried it as a burden of the word of 
the Lord. A single example must suffice. Jo¬ 
nah was called as a Hebrew to preach to the 
heathen city of Nineveh. Disobedient at first, 
his experiences in being “whaled” has made 
the incident a matter of jest and ridicule 
among the scoffers and critics ever since. But 
the wonderful thing about the story is that Jo¬ 
nah remained alive and was indigestible. The 
Hebrew has been swallowed time and again by 
the nations of the earth, yet he still remains a 
Jew. And all the while his place as a teaching 
factor in the history of nations remains un¬ 
changed. 


117 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


Prof. George Smith, F.S.A., in his scholarly 
work, The Hebrew People, says: ‘ ‘ That scheme 
of religion, therefore, which God gave to the 
Hebrews.... sheds a flood of light upon God’s 
providential government of mankind, and, by 
uniting every part of Hebrew conduct and 
manners, every element of public and private 
life with religion, and making national pros¬ 
perity and adversity contingent upon obedi¬ 
ence or transgression, it brought God eminently 
nigh unto them, and exhibited His law as per¬ 
vading the wide range of their personal and 
public purposes, pursuits, and destinies.” 

Jesus, the Teaching Savior. At the present 
time, great stress is being placed upon elab¬ 
orate programs of religious education for the 
child and the community and the nation. The 
redemptive features of the gospel are sneer- 
ingly referred to as the antiquated salvage 
corps which is being relegated to the scrap heap 
because it is out of date. “Jesus is the great 
Teacher and His kingdom is to be set up 
through the instructive methods of the class 
room. Knowledge is the great emancipator 
from the galling bondage of ignorance.” 

Jesus was a great Teacher (Matt. 4: 23; 11: 
1; John 3: 1). But liow and what did He 

118 


THE PROGRAM AND EVANGELIZATION 


teach? He taught with authority (Matt. 7: 
29). He taught the gospel of the kingdom 
(Matt. 4:23). He taught the way of God in 
truth (Matt. 26 :16). He taught the necessity, 
significance and sufficiency of His death (Matt. 
16:21; 17 : 22, 23; Mark 8:31; Luke 9 : 22; 22 : 
19,20; 24:46,47). He taught that salvation 
was dependent, not upon culture, training, ed¬ 
ucation, hut upon faith in Himself as the Sa¬ 
vior (John 3:14; 18:36). He declared Him¬ 
self to he the light of the world, hut the light 
of life only to those who follow Him (John 8: 
12). He is the truth (John 14: 6) ; knowledge 
of the truth makes free (John 8:32) ; the Son 
makes free (John 8:36); therefore the Son 
and saving truth are the same. 

The teaching ministry of Jesus embraced two 
angles of truth—concepts and precepts. Con¬ 
cepts are ideas of truth or statements of facts. 
Precepts are rules of conduct. Therefore He 
taught truths to be believed and truths to he 
practised. The first centered around His re¬ 
demptive work, while the second marked the 
individual standard of citizenship. The major 
portion of His teaching relates to the state, 
standing, suffering, service, and joyful hope of 
the believer. He Himself was the revelation 

119 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


of the Father to the world. Through His life, 
ministry, death, and resurrection is the unfold¬ 
ing of the moral characteristics of the Father. 
In Him was the culmination of the teaching 
program of all the past. He was God “mani¬ 
fested in the flesh.” God is now made known 
to man. 

This revelation, plus the accomplishment of 
the method of salvation through the cross, 
must now be made known to all men. Christ 
as the God-man and the sinner’s Savior, dead 
but now resurrected; temporarily absent but 
divinely efficient, is the teaching truth. 
“Neither for these only do I pray, but for them 
also that believe on me through their word; 
that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, 
art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be 
one in us: that the world may believe that thou 
didst send me” (John 17 : 20, 21). 

Divine as He was as a Teacher, He was not 
universally received. His power to bestow 
blessings was restricted by unbelief. But as a 
teaching missionary He so fully declared His 
message, bore witness to the truth, discharged 
His duty, performed His task, that He could 
reverently bow to His Father and say: “ I glo¬ 
rified thee on the earth, having accomplished 

120 


THE PROGRAM AND EVANGELIZATION 


the work which thou hast given me to do” 
(John 17:4). 

It was then that He turned to His regen¬ 
erated sons and said: “Go ye therefore, and 
make disciples of all the nations, baptizing 
them into the name of the Father and of the 
Son and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to 
observe all things whatsoever I commanded 
you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto 
the end of the world (age) ” (Matt. 28:19, 20). 
The task is clearly defined—disciple-making, 
teaching, witnessing. The field is explicit—all 
nations, the uttermost part of the earth. The ex¬ 
clusive standard of true discipleship is fixed in 
kingdom terms—obedience to the divine com¬ 
mands. The equipment is furnished—the be- 
stowment of the Holy Spirit. Divine coopera¬ 
tion and companionship is assured—“Lo, I am 
with you always. ’ ’ 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

Why do men need a divine revelation? Discuss 
Abraham as a teaching pilgrim. Discuss Moses as 
a teaching lawgiver. Discuss Israel as a teaching 
nation. Discuss Christ as the teaching Savior. 
What is the end of all teaching—impression or ex¬ 
pression? How did Jesus emphasize this truth? 
How should you? 


121 


Let the believer once get this Scriptural concep¬ 
tion of the world's evangelization rather than con¬ 
version, rooted within him as an intelligent convic¬ 
tion, and he organizes victory out of defeat. Hope 
that has lost her wings plumes herself for tireless 
flight; the dirge, chanted at the grave of buried ex¬ 
pectation, changes to the song of rejoicing at the - 
rent tomb from which expectation rises to a new and 
deathless life. He now sees that Satan has no ad¬ 
vantage; that God's eternal purpose marches on 
through the centuries and marshals even Satan's 
forces into line. The whole world, with all its oppo¬ 
sitions, becomes but the scaffolding about the church 
of God, to be used in its construction, and torn down 
and burned up when the capstone of God's building 
is laid. There is not a backward movement in all 
human history that is not, like the backward swing 
of the arm or the leg, a part of an onward and for¬ 
ward movement... .We are not entrusted with a 
world's conversion, but with its evangelization. The 
power of man, or of all men combined can not con¬ 
vert one soul; that takes omnipotence, and to com¬ 
bine a million impotences, will not make one om¬ 
nipotence. We are responsible, not for conversion 
but only for contact: “Go ye into all the world and 
preach the gospel to every creature;” there our com¬ 
mission begins and ends. — Dr. A. T. Pierson. 


122 


CHAPTER X 


THE PROGRAM IN ITS CONSUMMATION 

A Statement of Fact. From a study of the 
foregoing chapters three simple, yet startlingly 
significant facts stand out. The first is that 
Jesus Christ in person has been here in this 
world in which we now live. The manner of 
His coming, His life while here, what He said 
about the past life of the race, His Father, 
Himself, His generation, His followers, the 
purpose of His coming, what would be accom¬ 
plished because He had come, what was to hap¬ 
pen in the future—all of this and more is a 
matter of historical record. 

The second fact is that He is not here in per¬ 
son now. He has gone away. He said He was 
going before He went. He told where He was 
going, why He was going, what He was going 
to do while absent, and what His followers 
were to do during His absence—all of this and 
more is a matter of historical record. 

The third fact is that in person He is coming 
back to this earth on which we now live. He 

123 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


said this repeatedly while He was here. An¬ 
gels came to earth after He had left it to state 
the same fact. The men who were associated 
with Him in intimate companionship while He 
was here repeatedly said the same thing—all 
of this and more, is a matter of historical 
record. 

If we are ready to give assent to these facts, 
then the big, outstanding question is—What 
directions did Jesus give before leaving this 
world concerning the work His disciples were 
to do ? Did He assign them a task ? What was 
that task? Under what conditions was the 
task to be performed ? 

The Task Assigned, The task was stated 
clearly and explicitly by our Lord in the great 
commission and the command to tarry at Jeru¬ 
salem. S. D. Gordon in his Quiet Talks on Ser¬ 
vice stresses individual responsibility in carry¬ 
ing out Christ’s command to carry the gospel 
into all the world. As the clouds received Je¬ 
sus out of sight and the everlasting gates were 
lifted up to let Him in, Mr. Gordon imagines 
the ascending Christ is met by Gabriel and the 
following conversation takes place. Gabriel: 
“Well, Master, does everybody down there on 
the earth know that through your death and 

124 


THE PROGRAM IN ITS CONSUMMATION 


resurrection they may be saved?” Jesus: 
“Oh, no, just a very few know it yet.” Ga¬ 
briel : ‘ ‘ What provision did you make that all 
might hear ? ” Jesus: “ I told those who know 
that they should tell some one else, and then 
each person was to tell another until all had 
heard.” Gabriel: “Well, Master, suppose 
they should not do it! Suppose they should 
fail?” Jesus: “I have made no other plans. 
I am counting on them.” How far have we 
failed ? 

The Responsibility of the Church. This re¬ 
sponsibility is to witness to the death and res¬ 
urrection of Christ as the one and only hope 
of salvation from sin to all the world. The 
mission and calling of the disciples and the 
apostles, and of the body of believers from the 
Day of Pentecost until now, and on until new 
orders are issued by the Master Himself, is to 
publish Him and His finished work as a pres¬ 
ent Savior with all the gracious and blessed ex¬ 
periences which He brings. This is the gospel 
of grace and is the power of God to every one 
who believes (Rom. 1:16). 

The Teaching of Jesus. As already made 
clear, there is an indeterminate space between 
the universal kingdom of God of the past and 

125 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


of the future. The church functions in that 
portion of this time stretching from Pentecost 
until the second advent. It is the time of the 
absent King and may be described as the 
“kingdom of heaven in mystery.” 

Jesus put this mystery of the kingdom of 
heaven into the parables recorded in the thir¬ 
teenth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel. Seven 
times He repeats, “The kingdom of heaven is 
like.” He does not say, “The church is like,” 
but that dispensation of dominion or govern¬ 
ment of the absent King is administered on 
earth under such conditions as, contrasted with 
the universal kingdom of God, constitutes a 
mystery. It is of such a nature that only those 
gifted with spiritual vision can understand it 
(Matt. 13:11). 

The Mystery Parables. The sower sows the 
word of kingdom truth. Instead of this seed 
resulting in the field’s becoming filled quickly 
with the promise of a full harvest, three- 
fourths of it is lost through the persistent ac¬ 
tivity of “the evil one,” and through tribula¬ 
tion, persecution, worldly cares, and deceitful 
riches. “And he that was sown upon the good 
ground, this is he that heareth the word, and 
understandeth it; who verily beareth fruit, 

126 


THE PROGRAM IN ITS CONSUMMATION 


and bringeth forth, some a hundredfold, some 
sixty, some thirty.’’ 

The Son of God sowed good seed in His 
world-field which produced sons of the king¬ 
dom. His enemy, the devil, entered the field 
as an intruder and oversowed the field with 
that seed which produced “sons of the evil 
one. ’ ’ The work of the enemy was so thorough, 
reaching into the kingdom itself (v. 41), that 
it could not be eliminated without destroying 
the good. Hence, the Master Himself set the 
plan to be followed by saying the harvest and 
the separation will take place at the end of the 
age, the reapers being the angels who are to ac¬ 
company the King in His return. 

Through the mustard tree He pictured the 
phenomenal growth of historical Christianity, 
the spreading of the professed church through 
the world. It has become a great tree indeed, 
but the birds of heaven have lodged in its hun¬ 
dreds of branches—the vultures of scandal; 
the hawks of ambition; the crows of dissension; 
the cockatoos of pride and pleasure; the chat¬ 
tering parrots of traditional shibboleths. The 
leaven of evil is present; potent and penetrat¬ 
ing. The net is cast and drawn down to the 
very end, and ever brings a haul of good and 

127 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


bad. But hidden in that field—the world—is 
the hidden treasure, Israel, to redeem which 
the Son of man, for the joy which was set be¬ 
fore Him, endured the cross and despised the 
shame. Likewise, there was there a pearl of 
sparkling beauty to buy which He emptied 
Himself, for “Christ also loved the church 
and gave himself for it” (Eph. 5:25). Dur¬ 
ing the absence of the King, only those who ac¬ 
tually receive Christ in their hearts as King 
are children of the kingdom. Just as he was 
not a Jew who was one racially only (Rom. 2: 
28,29), so he only is a child of the kingdom 
who has actually received Christ within, “hav¬ 
ing been begotten again, not of corruptible 
seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of 
God, which liveth and abideth” (1 Pet. 1:23). 

Is It a Question of Failure? Satan is the 
master counterfeiter. Among the apostles 
there was a Judas. In the Pentecost-estab¬ 
lished church at Jerusalem were an Ananias 
and Sapphira. In the red-hot revival fire 
which burned in Samaria there was a baptized 
Simon Magus. Out from among the spiritually 
resurrected saints of Ephesus came wolves in 
sheep’s clothing to rend and devour. “Has 
Christianity—has Protestantism, then, been a 

128 


THE PROGRAM IN ITS CONSUMMATION 


failure, and shall we give up, as hopeless, the 
task of evangelizing this world? By no means. 
Failure is a comparative term. If God had 
meant to accomplish the conversion of the 
world in this present age, so far there would 
have been a disastrous failure. But if tares 
and wheat are to grow side by side, and side by 
side ripen till the harvest; if the gospel net, 
cast into the wide world-sea, is not to enclose 
all the fish in the sea, but only the elect num¬ 
ber; and even those enclosed include both bad 
and good, ‘sword-fish’ and ‘toad-fish,’ ‘man- 
sharks’ and ‘devil-fish,’ as well as the delicious 
cod, the blood-tinged salmon, and the angel¬ 
fish—then, far from failure, there has been 
and is exactly what the Lord Himself pur¬ 
posed and prophesied as the outcome of this 
dispensation. To see this truth, taught in the 
word and wrought out in acts of the Holy 
Spirit and the facts of history from Christ’s 
ascension until now, kindles in the despondent 
breast of a weary workman a new celestial fire 
of contagious courage and enthusiasm.” 

After twenty centuries of Christian life and 
teaching, serious minded thinkers and scholars 
view the present world condition with alarm. 
Ancient Borne and Modern America by Fer- 

129 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


rero; Civilization at the Cross Roads by Pig- 
gus; The Collapse of Civilization by Wells; 
these are suggestive titles of recent books 
which indicate the trend of thought. Brookes 
Adams in his Theory of Social Revolution 
prophesies that the present social order will 
end before 1930. Prof. Charles Ellwood, em- 
inent as an authority on Sociology, asserts 
that the forces which undermined Roman civ¬ 
ilization are prominent, if not dominant, in 
Western civilization. These forces are com¬ 
mercialism, individualism, material standards 
of life, militarism, a low estimate of marriage 
and the family, agnosticism in religion and 
ethics. 

The men just named are not advocates of a 
so-called pessimistic interpretation of millenni- 
alism, but students of the social order from a 
non-religious standpoint. Pages could be filled 
with quotations proving the truth of the teach¬ 
ing of Jesus as outlined above, and corroborat¬ 
ing the words of Paul that “in the last days 
grievous times shall come” (2 Tim. 3:1-5). 

Evangelization. What, then, is the program? 
It is just what Jesus said it was to be. Not 
conversion of the whole, but evangelization. 
Under the divine empowerment of Pentecost 

130 


THE PROGRAM IN ITS CONSUMMATION 


thousands were converted in Jerusalem; but 
Jerusalem was not converted. The city was 
thoroughly evangelized and then the apostles 
were scattered everywhere through persecu¬ 
tion. Samaria was visited with a great revival 
(Acts 8: 5-25), and, while the city and country 
were thoroughly evangelized, the people were 
not all converted. Paul evangelized Ephesus 
and vicinity until ‘ ‘ all that dwelt in Asia 
heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and 
Greeks,” and the word of God grew mightily 
and prevailed (Acts 19:10-20), yet Ephesus 
remained a pagan city. 

The apostles almost fulfilled their Lord’s 
command to evangelize the world in their gen¬ 
eration, and would have succeeded doubtless if 
they had continued in their first zeal and fer¬ 
vor. And there has not been a generation since 
in which the command could not have been 
obeyed if the church had mobilized her re¬ 
sources and carried out her marching orders. 

The Inspiration of the Worker. This in¬ 
spiration is the overwhelming conviction, 
based upon the unbreakable Word, that the 
same Jesus who lived and worked and minis¬ 
tered and died and lived again in this world is 
coming back to it again, not in humiliation and 

131 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 

poverty and rejected of men, but in power and 
glory (Matt. 16:27; Titus 2:13). In the con¬ 
viction of that hope he labors with confidence 
(James 5:7-9). He knows his sufferings will 
be lost in the glory which will follow (1 Pet. 
1:7-13). This fact furnishes the constant in¬ 
centive to purity of life and holiness in charac¬ 
ter (1 Thess. 3:13; 5: 23; 2 Thess. 3: 5; 1 Tim. 
6:14; 1 John 3: 2, 3). The imminency of this 
coming stirs to constant watchfulness (Matt. 
23: 42-44; Luke 12 : 37-40; 2 Pet. 3 : 3-12). 

The Times of Restitution. In its operation 
and consummation the divine program cul¬ 
minates in what the Bible calls the times of 
restitution. When the new called-out ekkle- 
sia, the spiritual Israel, has completed its task 
of being a witnessing body, in that hour known 
only to the Father, the King will return to 
earth to reign. This return will be sudden and 
with violence to the existing earth kingdoms 
(Dan. 2:34, 44). It will be the redemption in 
power restoring the lost inheritance (Acts 3: 
20). It is the age-long event for which bur¬ 
dened creation waits (Rom. 8:17-24). It will 
be the ushering in of the kingdom foretold by 
the prophets (Acts 15:14-18). When He has 
accomplished His kingly rule and authority in 

132 


THE PROGRAM IN ITS CONSUMMATION 


the earth, He will reach His final glorious uni¬ 
versal triumph by delivering His kingdom to 
God the Father (1 Cor. 15:23-28), and take 
His place as head of the prehistorically chosen 
and divinely redeemed order of holy sons to 
the ages of the ages. 4 ‘Amen: come, Lord 
Jesus.” 


SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

What three facts are evident concerning the 
earthly life of Christ? In view of the visible ab¬ 
sence of Christ, what is the responsibility of the 
church? What did Jesus teach would be the result 
of seed-sowing through the present age? What do 
the present conditions in the social and moral world 
prove concerning the teaching of Jesus? From what 
sources comes inspiration for the worker? What 
will be the consummation? In the light of the dis¬ 
cussions growing out of the study of the preceding 
chapters, what is your duty relative to the Divine 
Program ? 


133 



' 





Part II 

THE DIVINE PROGRAM 

as related to the 

NATURE AND NURTURE OF THE 
CHRISTIAN LIFE 


135 


The spiritual life affects the social life. Thus the 
divine order is, in the present day, perverted. There 
is an attempt to create a social life that will create 
a spiritual life. This can not l)e. The spiritual life 
will create the social life. Things set socially right 
can not create things spiritually right; hut, when 
things are spiritually right, they will he socially 
right. Without a new life in Christ there can he no 
true life in the community. The present day empha¬ 
sis on so-called “social service" utterly ignores the 
spiritual life. It is of humanitarian source and 
Jcnoivs nothing of the spiritual. The emphasis is 
placed upon a man's relation to his brother rather 
than a man's relation to his God. It is a bond of the 
flesh and not a bond in the faith. When a man is 
in right relation to God, He will he in proper rela¬ 
tion to man. Never till then. — Rev. W. Leon Tucker. 


136 


CHAPTER I 


CHRIST AND THE SOCIAL ORDER 

Jesus and His Age. Jesus Christ lived a hu¬ 
man life for a little more than thirty years in 
the beginning of the Christian era. He was 
born in Bethlehem, a small village near Jeru¬ 
salem, in Palestine, and made His home at 
Nazareth until He commenced His public 
ministry. That ministry lasted three years, 
more or less. In that brief space of time He 
disclosed such visions of religious truth, enun¬ 
ciated such principles of virtue and conduct, 
revealed such light upon relationship to God 
and one’s neighbor, and disclosed such a pro¬ 
gram for His followers as to constitute the 
most tremendous transforming force ever con¬ 
nected with the history of the race—the Chris¬ 
tian religion. 

Jesus lived, then, among men. He conversed 
with them, was entertained in their homes, ate 
at their tables as an invited guest, comforted 
them in their sorrows, rebuked them for their 
sins, worshiped in their temples, paid taxes to 

137 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


the state, and walked through their fields and 
in the streets of their cities. It is not specula¬ 
tion to say that He saw then, just as vividly as 
we see now, the social order, the impurities of 
life, the inhumanities of man, the hate, the 
greed, the vice, in short—sin in all its forms. 

What Did He Do? He did just what He ex¬ 
pects His disciples to do. He proved by His 
own life that a holy character could be in this 
world and yet not be of it. He proved that a 
holy man could be in contact with the evil 
everywhere present and still have it as clear 
as the noonday sun that he had no complicity 
with it. He proved that it did not unmake a 
man to be spiritually-minded in the midst of 
men who were evil-minded. He proved that 
while a holy character would not be free from 
suspicion of evil, that while He might be 
charged with ulterior motives or false profes¬ 
sions, yet His very enemies, at heart, would 
feel His sincerity of purpose and purity of in¬ 
tention. 

Above all, He demonstrated how a son of 
God, a citizen of a heavenly kingdom—a king¬ 
dom yet in the heavens and of the heavens— 
could become a son of that King, be taught the 
principles of that kingdom, be trained in the 

138 


CHRIST AND THE SOCIAL ORDER 


essential qualities of citizenship required by 
that kingdom, while here in this world. In 
other words, those w T ho become the followers of 
Christ, who accept the conditions of citizen¬ 
ship in a heavenly commonwealth to be con¬ 
summated in the future, who become sons and 
heirs of God, by virtue of that relation are 
constituted a spiritual order, unique and dis¬ 
tinct from any existing order, called “breth¬ 
ren,” “believers,” “disciples,” “Christians,” 
11 saints, ” “ the body of Christ, ’ ’ and ‘ ‘ the 
church.” This spiritual order does not consti¬ 
tute a kingdom in any organic sense because 
the King is temporarily absent and the pros¬ 
pective kingdom area is largely filled with se¬ 
cessionists. But the members of this spiritual 
order are charged with the individual respon¬ 
sibility of praying for the coming of that king¬ 
dom (Matt. 6: 10), being inspired with the 
hope of its coming (Titus 2:13), and conscien¬ 
tiously faithful in acting in an ambassadorial 
relation between the absent King and His re¬ 
bellious subjects (2 Cor. 5:18-20). 

Whom Did Jesus Teach? A small portion of 
His message was for the formal religionists 
and hypocritical professors of His age to whom 
He addressed sharp words of reproof, rebuke 

139 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


and peremptory demands for repentance. His 
example was followed by Peter, Stephen, 
James, John and Paul. The penitents and hon¬ 
est seekers after light and truth were given 
messages vibrant with tenderness and love. 
But the major portion of the teachings of Je¬ 
sus, and after Him, of the apostles, were ad¬ 
dressed to the newly created spiritual order in 
* perpetuity. It was to His disciples, to those 
who accepted Him as Teacher and Master and 
Savior, to the men who were to continue to 
represent Him as His witnesses, it was to these 
men and to their successors that the main bur¬ 
den of His message was given. 

What did Jesus Teach? The teaching mes¬ 
sage of Jesus easily and naturally falls into 
three divisions of religious truth—redemptive, 
evangelistic, and social. The first reveals the 
divine program of redemption; the second re¬ 
lates to the duty of making this known as the 
gospel of saving power; the third relates to 
the application of the principles of Christian 
life, conduct, and service, along such lines as 
will improve the conditions of life among men. 

The first two of these divisions have been 
thoroughly emphasized in the first half of the 
book. The third is equally important, es- 

140 


CHRIST AND THE SOCIAL ORDER 


pecially in view of the radical difference in 
its interpretation existing among Christian 
workers. In studying this division of truth 
three fundamental facts must be kept in mind. 

The first of these great facts is that the love 
of God and of Christ for the world is something 
infinitely more than a love of philanthropy. 
With all reverence let it be said that God looks 
upon the squalor and ignorance and suffering 
of the world with pity and grief and yearning 
sympathy, but such terms are far too super¬ 
ficial to express the infinite compassion which 
stirs the heart of God with love for His way¬ 
ward children. Let the ceaseless ache and un¬ 
quenchable yearning of paternal love for a 
wandering prodigal be projected into infini¬ 
tude and then will the outer rim of that great 
love be touched. The expression of the love of 
God for the race is not in the beauty of the 
Eastern sky where God makes for Himself 
‘ 1 an awful rose of dawn; ’ ’ it is not the stately 
groves of graceful beauty where were “God’s 
first temples;” it is not in the star-set firma¬ 
ment forever singing, ‘ ‘ The hand that made us 
is divine,” but—the cross of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. 

The second great fact is one already empha- 

141 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


sized in Chapter IX of Part One. It is 
plainly taught that the present social order is 
not Christian, will not be made Christian in 
this present dispensation, and will continue to 
be persistent in its refusal to accept Jesus 
Christ as the One and only Savior. The sad 
feature connected with this truth is that the 
continued domination of the god of this world 
over the present social order will be increased. 
by the apostacy of many who were of the spiri¬ 
tual order. This “falling away” is so serious 
as to constitute a sign of the times and is al¬ 
ready in appalling evidence. 

The third great fact to be remembered is 
that the principles of conduct, or Christian 
ethics, is based absolutely upon the regenera¬ 
tion of the natural man in the teachings of Je¬ 
sus. The efficient application of the Golden 
Rule is possible only to the Christian. To love 
one’s enemies, to do good to them that are 
spiteful to us, to love God with the whole heart 
and the neighbor as one’s self is impossible ex¬ 
cept as the natural man becomes a new man in 
Christ. The “Social Gospel” becomes such 
when an individual becomes a Christian and 
applies the teachings of Christ to his life. 

The Humanitarianism of Jesus. He went 

.142 


CHRIST AND THE SOCIAL ORDER 


about doing good. He healed the sick, sympa¬ 
thized with the sorrowing and cast out afflictive 
demons. But the fact that moved Him with 
compassion and sent Him into the chill night 
hours of weary vigil in prayer was the sight 
of the multitudes without spiritual shepherds, 
and the harvests of human souls ready for 
reaping with none to wield the sickle. It is true 
He told the touching story of the Good Samar¬ 
itan, but that story was told to a doctor of the 
law and a professed religionist whose failure 
to express the religious life correctly was scath¬ 
ingly rebuked by the moral. 

The whole record of Christ’s life and minis¬ 
try emphasizes the fact that deeds of mercy 
and acts of charity are an expression of the 
compassion of Christ—they are the result of 
the new spiritual order and not its cause . The 
acts of philanthropy and sympathetic charity 
given from a humanitarian motive only do not 
constitute the giver a Christian. It may be, 
and probably is, inspired by the teachings of 
Christ, but if the motive is no higher than hu¬ 
man brotherliness, however meritorious it may 
be as such, it is not Christianity. Jesus taught 
that the act of mercy must be given in His 
name to be Christian, and Paul made the 

143 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


sweeping declaration that gifts to the limit of 
bankruptcy, accompanied by martyrdom, with¬ 
out love amounted to nothing. 

The social teachings of Jesus, the principles 
of truth which are to regulate human life and 
conduct by constituting a working basis for the 
capitalist and wage earner; the employer and 
the employee; the seller and the buyer; the 
lender and the borrower; the strong and the 
weak; can be realized only through the regen¬ 
erating power of the gospel. Just in propor¬ 
tion as cruel men become merciful through 
grace, that unscrupulous men become honest 
through grace, that selfish men become unself¬ 
ish through grace, just in that proportion will 
economic and social problems be settled on a 
basis of righteousness. The so-called collapse 
of civilization does not prove the failure of 
Christianity, but it does prove the failure of 
professing Christians to put its principles in¬ 
to practise. 

The Teaching Message. What, then, is the 
teaching message of Jesus. He has a message. 
His message is authoritative. He revealed God 
the Father. He made known the truth which 
alone can satisfy the age-long hunger of the 
race. He consummated the redemptive pro- 

144 


CHRIST AND THE SOCIAL ORDER 


gram of the ages, broke the seal on the book 
of life, threw wide open the door of infinite 
mercy, robbed death and the grave of its key 
and pledge of power, and stands unchallenged 
as the Savior of men. What, then, is His 
teaching message? 

1. It is the message of Jesus to Nicodemus 
(John 3:3). It is the message of Peter to the 
murderers of Christ (Acts 2:38). It is the 
message of Peter to Cornelius (Acts 10: 34-44). 
It is the message of Paul to the Athenians 
(Acts 17: 27-31). It is the message of Paul to 
Titus (Titus 2:11-14). It is the message of 
John (1 John 1:5-7). 

2. It is the message of redemptive, evangel¬ 
istic and social truth to be carried to the whole 
world. It is Christ’s twiee-born men bearing 
the message of peace and good will who build 
hospitals, establish schools, furnish doctors and 
nurses and blaze the trail for the steel rails of 
civilization and the salesmen of the world’s 
commerce. Africa was an impenetrable pall 
of darkness until David Livingstone punctured 
that pall with the star of Bethlehem. India 
lay close wrapped in her shrouds of religious 
contemplation and paralyzing subjective phi¬ 
losophy for centuries until the Careys and the 

145 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


Martyns and the Judsons voiced anew the 
clarion call of the Prince of Life, “Come 
forth.’’ The teaching message is of a Savior 
mighty to save and who is the Light of the 
world, the greater light of the knowledge of 
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, 
but as well the lesser lights of the benefits and 
blessings of civilization—the by-products of 
Christianity. 

3. It is the message of personal experience. 
The Bible is its own evidence, and contains its 
own demonstration and verification. Jesus 
said: ‘ ‘ This is the work of God, that ye believe 
on him whom he hath sent” (John 6: 29). He 
also declared that searching the Scriptures 
would reveal the testimony concerning Him¬ 
self. We may safely trust experience. “The 
power to mould spiritual consciousness is one 
of the greatest powers of the Holy Spirit, and 
there is nothing in the universe that is might¬ 
ier than moral conviction, grounded and estab¬ 
lished upon experience.” It is because the Bi¬ 
ble, including the teachings of Jesus, can be in¬ 
carnated in human experience that it is inde¬ 
structible and has been woven into the warp 
and woof of the social order. It is the Christ 
in the experiences of regenerated men which 

146 


CHRIST AND THE SOCIAL ORDER 


gives to the new spiritual social order that pre¬ 
serving quality which makes it the salt of the 
earth, and the spiritual dynamo generating the 
light which steadily burns in the midst of the 
moral darkness. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

How closely did Jesus come into touch with life? 
What important teaching truth was emphasized by 
this intimacy? To whom was the major portion of 
Christ’s teachings addressed? Why? Discuss three 
fundamental facts connected with the teachings of 
Jesus. What w r as the social message of Jesus? How 
can it be realized? Is your life a practical expres¬ 
sion of the social teachings of Jesus? 


147 


The prime essential of Sunday-school teaching 
that really teaches is—I say it with intense convic¬ 
tion—a vital Christian experience. Do you know, 
in every fiber of your being, the love of Christ? Does 
it pervade your soul, thrilling you, intensifying you, 
empowering you, as the electric current fills the 
wire with pulsing energy? Is there hidden, eating 
sin or love of sin, which, like an electrolysis, allows 
the power to escape? Are you, in this glad, eager 
love of Christ, given up—entirely given up—to do 
His will? Is there to you, in all the world of plea¬ 
sure and purpose, no ambition more appealing, no 
pleasure more entrancing, than to win some other 
soul to do His will? Has this love of Christ and 
of His ivill led you into a deep and tender love of 
Christ's children, for whom He died and for whom 
He lives and longs? Do you exist for one thing—all 
else being secondary—just to bring these two to¬ 
gether and join them forever, Christ and His chil¬ 
dren? If your answer to these questions is an hon¬ 
est Yes, then you have accepted the Great Commis¬ 
sion; you are a missionary Christian. No others 
should teach in the Sunday-school. No others can 
really teach in the Sunday-school, however they may 
dub themselves teachers, and cheat themselves and 
the church with a pretense of teaching. — Dr. Amos 
R. Wells. 


148 


CHAPTER II 


PROPHETS AND TEACHERS 

The Teaching Ministry. That there is a 
teaching ministry is not a debatable proposi¬ 
tion. The content of religious instruction, gen¬ 
uine or spurious, has come to the race through 
its prophets and teachers. A study of the his¬ 
tory of nations clearly reveals that progress or 
decline is vitally connected with the question 
of religion—and the complexion of religion 
has been determined by the prophets and 
teachers of the race. The Hebrew religion had 
its high flood tides and its low ebb tides, but 
its entire course is traced by its prophets and 
teachers who voiced the messages of Jehovah: 
“God, having of old time spoken unto the fa¬ 
thers in the prophets by divers portions and in 
divers manners’’ (Heb. 1:1). 

The Christian religion is no exception. In it 
God has spoken to us through His Son (Heb. 
1:2). He was a teacher of religious faith and 
practise (Matt. 5:2). He commissioned His 
followers to carry out a world-wide teaching 

149 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


program (Matt. 28:19). He personally ap¬ 
peared to Paul and called him to be a minister 
and a witness (Acts 26:16). Paul faithfully 
fulfilled that calling by teaching everywhere 
(1 Cor. 4:17), by directing the selection of 
men able to teach (2 Tim. 2:2), and by defin¬ 
ing the teaching content (1 Tim. 6:2). The 
biographical record of his life and work closes 
with the picture of this teaching prophet, a 
prisoner in Rome, yet living in his own hired 
house “preaching the kingdom of God, and 
teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus 
Christ” (Acts 28:31). 

The Place of the Prophet and Teacher. The 
prophet is responsible for racial ideals. In¬ 
stance, Confucius for China, Buddha for In¬ 
dia, Zoroaster for Persia and Mohammed for 
Arabia. What rule can fix with mathematical 
definiteness the influence of Abraham in the 
faith of men ? Who can measure the extent of 
the impact of Moses upon the social, political, 
economic and religious life of the world ? 
The social messages of Hosea, Amos and John 
the Baptist fixed definite standards for their 
day and have an insistent appeal upon this. 
Jesus was a prophet whose message fixed a ra¬ 
cial ideal for all time, to which He added the 

150 


PROPHETS AND TEACHERS 


equally important function of the teacher. The 
teacher is responsible for fixing in the minds 
of the children and child-men of the race the 
ideals for which the prophets stand. Jesus as 
a Prophet fixed the race ideal; as a Teacher He 
declared that child-openness of mind and sim¬ 
plicity of heart are absolutely essential to the 
realization of the ideal. As a divine Savior, 
through the power of the Holy Spirit, He gives 
to those who will to have it, this child-open¬ 
ness of mind and simplicity of heart. 

The Seed and the Fruitage. Jesus declared 
His work as a teacher to be a sower of seed. 
There is the seed, the soil, the harvest. The 
seed is the Word of God, the soil is the race of 
men, the final harvest is the reaping time at the 
end of the age. Seed germinating and grow¬ 
ing produces marvelous changes. The seed 
changes, the soil changes, the landscape 
changes. Wherever the Word of God has been 
taught, and believed and obeyed, transforma¬ 
tion has followed. But it is not without effort. 
The seed is potent, but the soil is resisting. 
Much of it is covered with a rank growth of 
obstructive matter which must be removed. 
Much of it is stony and lacking in fertility and 
quick responsiveness. Hostile forces of insis- 

151 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


tent power are constantly at work. It will be 
so until the end. But the sower must go forth 
to sow. 

Notwithstanding the difficulties, the discour¬ 
agements and the apparent fruitlessness of the 
effort at times, there are patches of good soil 
in which encouraging and inspiring fruitage 
appears. Enough has appeared to materially 
change the landscape in specific sections. The 
transformed cannibal islands of the South 
Seas, the evangelized portions of India, Africa, 
China and Japan, the unparalleled growth in 
influence and power of those nations which 
permit an open Bible and liberty of conscience, 
are pertinent illustrations. 

A competent authority states that there are 
ten social evils that have cursed the race from 
the very beginning of sin: polygamy, adultery, 
legalized impurity, capricious divorce, infanti¬ 
cide, rapacious and offensive wars, bloody and 
brutal games, punishment and death by tor¬ 
ture, caste, and slavery. Wherever the Word 
of God appears and in the proportion that it is 
allowed to permeate the social order, these 
evils are diminished. The changing standards 
of pagan morals to Christian standards, the 
growth of conscience respecting social prob- 

152 


PROPHETS AND TEACHERS 


lems; as, the home, slavery, war, value of hu¬ 
man life, and social evils—all following the 
gradually expansive teachings of the princi 
pies of Jesus, imperatively fix the importance 
and responsibility and inspiring hope of the 
Christian teacher. 

The Place of the Christian Teacher. One of 

the most eminent educators of the present day 
recently made the following statement: “We 
once defined education in terms of knowledge. 
We believed that the educative process con¬ 
sisted in the mental assimilation of quantities 
of subject-matter. We now define education in 
terms of behavior. There is a very true sense in 
which we can say that education is the intro¬ 
duction of control into experience.” Dr. Nich¬ 
olas Murray Butler says: “If education can 
not be identified with mere instruction, what is 
it? What does the term mean? I answer, it 
must mean a gradual adjustment to the spiri¬ 
tual possessions of the race.” These quotations 
could be greatly multiplied, but suffice it to say 
these two are representative and serve to em¬ 
phasize the point that modern education in its 
aims is swinging back to the scientific aims and 
methods of the Master Teacher. The aim of 
His teaching was not so much to impart knowl- 

153 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


edge content as to secure expression in life. 
It is those who do the will of the Father who 
enter the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 7:21). It 
is those who put into practise His teachings 
who are wise (Matt. 7:24). The love of His 
professed followers is tested by practising His 
commands (John 15:11). “If ye know these 
things, blessed are ye if ye do them” (John 
13:17). In other words, “My teaching is not 
mere instruction for the purpose of entertain¬ 
ment or idle pastime, but if received and prac¬ 
tised will give the needed ‘adjustment to the 
spiritual possessions.’ ” 

This point can not be stressed too strongly. 
It was the insistent message of Jesus that men 
should live the truth they know. The apostle 
James followed the example of His Lord by de¬ 
manding that men should not only be hearers 
of the Word, but doers as well (James 1:22- 
25), declaring that where doing does not fol¬ 
low knowledge, it is sin (James 4:17). Not¬ 
withstanding the undue stress many are placing 
upon religious education at the present time, 
some even going so far as to assert that “evan¬ 
gelical types of religious experience are possi¬ 
ble through education” and that “that which 
is born of the Spirit may be born in the class 

154 


PROPHETS AND TEACHERS 


room, ’ ’ yet it must be admitted that the church 
has neglected far too much the legitimate exer¬ 
cise of the teaching function. Particularly is 
this true of the ministry. The modern homilet- 
ical, topical, declamatory, hortatory, and, in 
far too many cases, emotional, type of preach¬ 
ing has supplanted the exegetical and teaching 
type of Jesus and His apostles. To meet the 
grave exigencies of the present situation, the 
church should and must make a larger place 
for the teaching ministry of the Word to be in 
harmony with the divine program. It is high 
time that the servant of the Lord must not 
only be apt to teach (2 Tim. 2:24), but give 
himself to his teaching (Rom. 12:7). 

The Field for a Teaching Ministry. It goes 
without saying that in the broad sense that 
field is the world. In the salvation brought 
through the grace of God is instruction in eth¬ 
ics for every man (Titus 2:11, 12). But the 
outpost is reached from the home-post; the 
path that stretches to the outermost neighbor 
passes the door of the nearest neighbor. The 
divine order is first Andrew, then Simon Pe¬ 
ter ; first Philip, and then Nathaniel; first 
Paul, then the Philippian jailer. And if the 
teachers of religion are responsible for fixing 

155 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


in the minds of the children and of the men 
with the child-spirit the ideals for which the 
true prophets stand, then the field of the Chris¬ 
tian teacher is fixed. That it is a “ near ’ ’ prob¬ 
lem is evidenced by the startling fact that 
seven out of every ten children and youth in 
America under twenty-five years of age are un¬ 
touched by religious instruction of any kind. 

There are three social institutions which are 
divine in origin and the perpetuation of which 
is positively fundamental—the family, the na¬ 
tion, and the church. These belong to one di¬ 
vine plan moving toward a distant goal. This 
goal is the perfect brotherhood which will con¬ 
stitute that felicitous inner circle in the pro¬ 
jected kingdom of God. These interlocking 
social factors in the ideal make for the only 
true principle of racial solidarity. 

The Importance of the Home. The nation of 
to-morrow will be composed of the children of 
to-day. The church of the future will be made 
of the boys and girls of the present. The per¬ 
petuity of the nation and the spirituality of 
the church depend upon the religious training 
of the children and young people. Yet the 
authorities on religious statistics in the United 
States tell us there are fifty million people 

156 


PROPHETS AND TEACHERS 


above nine years of age who are not identified 
with any church—Jewish, Catholic or Protes¬ 
tant; and that there are twenty-seven million 
Protestant young people and children under 
twenty-five years of age who are receiving no 
religious instruction or training of any kind. 
The states recognize thirty-six distinct grounds 
for absolute divorce, while university and col¬ 
lege professors are openly teaching that “there 
can be and are holier alliances outside the mar¬ 
riage bond than within it,” and that “im¬ 
morality is simply an act in contravention to 
society’s accepted standards.” In view of these 
alarming conditions sociological experts are 
freely predicting the complete breakdown of 
the American home in the near future. 

The Child in the Midst. In the light of the 
foregoing, the evangelization of the child is 
the outstanding problem. Again repeating for 
the sake of emphasis, the child constitutes the 
near and far problem of the teacher. Here is 
the field, whitened for harvest, at home and 
abroad. 

Some one has said: “Spiritual illiteracy is 
the greatest peril of organized society.” Count 
Tolstoi, the Russian democrat, said: “With¬ 
out the Bible the education of the child in the 

167 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


present state of society is impossible.” Pres¬ 
ident Harding is credited with the following 
statement: “The future of the nation can not 
be trusted to the children unless their educa¬ 
tion includes their spiritual development.” 
Over one hundred years ago William von Hum¬ 
boldt, the first Prussian Minister of Education 
declared: * ‘ What you would have in the state, 
you must first put into the minds of the people 
by means of the schools.” Following out this 
principle, the dream of Bismark and Treitschke 
of Pan-Germanism, the rationalism of Strauss 
and Bauer, and the philosophy of Nietzsche 
were drilled into the children of Germany un¬ 
til the holocaust of the World War was made 
possible.' 

Prof. George H. Betts, an authority on re¬ 
ligious education, says: ‘ ‘ The child comes into 
the world devoid of all knowledge and under¬ 
standing. His mind, though at the beginning 
a blank, is a potential seed bed in which we 
may plant what teachings we will. The babe 
born into our home to-day, can, with equal ease, 
be made into a Christian, a Buddhist or a Mo- 
hammed'an, and brings with him the instinct to 
respond to the appeal religion makes to his 
life. But the kind and quality of his religion 

138 


PROPHETS AND TEACHERS 


will depend largely on the religious atmos¬ 
phere he breathes and the religious ideas and 
concepts placed in his mind through instruc¬ 
tion and training.” 

Hence, we are face to face with the place of 
the prophet and teacher. Jesus as a prophet 
uttered a message fixing the racial ideal for all 
time. The teacher—father, mother, day-school, 
Sunday-school, pastor—is responsible for fix¬ 
ing those ideals in the only minds fertile and 
responsive enough to make it worth while— 
the children, and the men to whom is supernat- 
urally given the child-spirit. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

Through what channels has God ever spoken to 
the race? For what is the prophet responsible? Il¬ 
lustrate. Explain what Jesus meant by comparing 
His work as a Teacher to a sower of seed. What is 
the seed ? The soil ? The harvest ? Enumerate some 
of the persistent social evils. In true teaching where 
is the emphasis to be placed? Where and what is 
the most favorable field for Christian nurture? Why? 
Why should the importance of the Christian nurture 
of the child be stressed? 


159 


The child is to grow up a Christian, and never 
know himself as being otherwise... .Never is it too 
early for good to be communicated. Infancy and 
childhood are the ages most pliant to good. And 
xoho can think it necessary that the plastic nature 
of childhood must first be hardened into stone, and 
stiffened into enmity towards God and all duty, be¬ 
fore it can become a candidate for Christian char¬ 
acter !... .The most important age of Christian nur¬ 
ture is the first; that which we have called the age 
of impressions, just that age, in which the duties 
and cares of a really Christian nurture are so com¬ 
monly postponed, or assumed to have not yet ar¬ 
rived. 1 have no scales to measure quantities of ef¬ 
fect in this matter of early training, but I may be 
allowed to express my solemn conviction, that more, 
as a general fact, is done, or lost by neglect of do¬ 
ing, on a child's immortality, in the first three years 
of his life, than in all his years of discipline after¬ 
wards.—Extracts from ChHstian Nurture by Hor¬ 
ace Bushnell. 


160 



CHAPTER III 


EARLIEST CHILDHOOD 
“We come 

From God, who is our home: 

Heaven lies about us in our infancy!” 

The Religious Life versus the Christian Life. 
The child is born with a heart to worship, with 
a desire after God. This innate devotional na¬ 
ture lies dormant for a time, but it is there. 
God has planted it there to make a place for 
Himself. The child is confiding, dependent 
and trustful. To him faith is natural. It is 
easy for him to believe. But while all of this 
is true, it must be stated with emphasis that 
the child is not born a Christian, neither does 
training make him one. This is not saying 
that children do not belong to the Lord before 
the act of wilful transgression, for they do. 
But the being included in redemptive benefits 
without choice is one thing, and consciously 
receiving Christ is quite another. 

There is a wide difference between having a 
religious nature and possessing the Christ na~ 

161 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


ture. Hindus have a special aptitude for spiri¬ 
tual things. Their whole life is filled with sac¬ 
ramental observances and every act is an act 
of devotion. Their constant search is for peace. 
For over two thousand years they have been 
unceasing in their religious teaching and prac¬ 
tise, but it has not brought them in contact 
with the great Peace-giver. The Christ life is 
from above, not from within. It comes subse¬ 
quent to the physical birth and is not innate. 
It is not imparted or developed by teaching, 
but is received from Him who said, “I am the 
door; by me if any man enter in, he shall be 
saved,” and, “I am the way, and the truth, 
and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, 
but by me.” 

The Importance of Training. However it is 
well nigh impossible for the child to find his 
way to the Light of Life and to grow up in 
that Light without proper training. What 
chance has a grain of corn dropped by the 
stony wayside to ever come to the ripened stalk 
with its perfectly developed ear! It is true 
that the same kernel might have been planted 
in a soil prepared according to the most scien¬ 
tific knowledge of agriculture and still have 
been blighted and blasted. But the seed sown 

102 


EARLIEST CHILDHOOD 


in prepared soil and cultivated with thought¬ 
ful care is what produces the harvest of golden 
grain. It is just so in the spiritual world. 
Though we can never produce Christian life, 
we may make an environment where it may 
come to an easy birth and where it may grow 
and develop and bring forth the matured fruit 
of ripened Christian character. Other things 
being equal, which baby has the better chance 
of becoming a Christian—the baby born in a 
Christian home or the baby born in a Hindu 
home? If the Christian baby and the Hindu 
baby were to exchange homes, which one would 
have the better opportunity of becoming a 
Christian? The value of proper nurture can 
not be overestimated. 

The Childs Right. It goes without saying 
that a child has the right to be well-born. But 
he has just as urgent a right to moral and 
spiritual nurture as he has to physical and in¬ 
tellectual nurture. He has a right during the 
impressionable, teachable years to an environ¬ 
ment of peace. He responds to the spiritual 
state of those about him. He has a right to an 
environment of prayer. Horace Bushnell de¬ 
clares that more impression is indelibly fixed 
in the sensitive soul of a child up to three years 

163 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


of age than in all his after life. If this be true, 
then no one can deny the right of the child to 
a holy mother. Silently and unconsciously, 
but surely, her reverence, her love, her devo¬ 
tion call forth in him feelings akin to her own. 
It is she who has the almost exclusive priv¬ 
ilege of making those impressions what she 
will. He is clay in her hands to be moulded as 
she wills. He has a right to a father’s love, 
so tender, so kind, so strong, that he interprets 
to the child the heavenly Father. He has rights 
—religious rights—but no voice or will to 
command them. He has a right to have the 
virtues cultivated in him before he has a 
chance to grow up in sin. He has a right to 
be brought to the Master, the Lover and 
Blesser of children, before he has ever known 
sin. 

Examples of Child Conversion. Ethel Ward, 
now a missionary in India, states she was def¬ 
initely converted at six years of age and has 
never forfeited that relation to Christ. Rev. 
E. P. Hammond, the noted evangelist, records 
verifying the testimony of a Dr. Hart, for 
twenty-five years pastor of a Congregational 
church in Connecticut, who stated he was 
truly converted when two and a half years of 

164 


EARLIEST CHILDHOOD 


age. He also mentions the case of a son of a 
minister in Minnesota who was definitely con¬ 
verted at four years of age. Dr. Adam Clarke 
was converted at four. At four years of age 
Count Zinzendorf wrote out this covenant with 
his Lord: “Be Thou mine, dear Savior, and I 
will be Thine.’’ 

What Next? A prominent Sunday-school 
worker recently said: “As a child I was con¬ 
sidered saved, hence neglected.” There must 
be continuous labor to deepen and enrich the 
soil to nurture the new life so that it shall not 
wither away, or be choked, but grow and bring 
forth fruit an hundred fold. Character and 
conduct is the goal. The little child loves its 
parents, so depends upon them, trusts them, 
has faith in them, hence obeys them. It is nat¬ 
ural and easy to teach them to feel the same 
toward the heavenly Father. There are many 
ways to nourish the spiritual life. Added to 
the unconscious tuition of atmosphere and ex¬ 
ample, the Bible and prayer should receive 
special emphasis. The rapt interest with 
which very young children will listen to Bible 
stories is a constant surprise to older people. 
They absorb these stories as a tender plant ab¬ 
sorbs rain, and then they express them in their 

165 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


serious living — their play. Mrs. William 
Booth relates that she practised telling and re¬ 
telling the stories of the Old Testament to her 
two-year-old son. Going into the nursery one 
day when he was three, she found him mounted 
on his rocking-horse in a high state of excite¬ 
ment finishing the story of Joseph to the nurse 
and his baby brother, showing them how Jo¬ 
seph galloped on his “ gee-gee ” when he went 
to fetch his father to show him to Pharaoh. 

From the time the child begins to talk he 
should be taught to say his bedtime prayers. 
As he grows older he should be taught to kneel 
with the parents and share in family worship. 
He should be taught the meaning of prayer, 
for what and for whom to pray, and the habit 
of prayer. He should be taught why he should 
close his eyes, fold his hands and be quiet in 
the attitude of prayer. He should be taught 
to help answer his own prayers by having 
right attitudes toward his playmates. He 
should be taught to live his prayers, to 4 ‘be 
good” and do good. It is in this early period 
that there is greater opportunity to mould the 
lives of the children and put them into sym¬ 
pathetic touch with the things of God than at 
any other time. 


166 


EARLIEST CHILDHOOD 


Team Work. Until the child is three years 
old the church has had little to do with his nur¬ 
ture except through the pastor and the cradle 
roll superintendent. However this is no small 
part. The consecrated Christian woman chosen 
as cradle roll superintendent has a unique op¬ 
portunity for real service second to none in 
the Sunday-school. Through her ministry, sec¬ 
onded by a wise pastor, the parents may be led 
to Christ, or if they are Christians, may be led 
into closer fellowship with Him and into a 
deeper understanding of their privileges and 
duties with reference to bringing up these lit¬ 
tle ones in the nurture and admonition of the 
Lord. 

When the child is three he enters the Begin¬ 
ner’s Department of the Sunday-school, hence 
from this point the discussion will deal more 
particularly with the nurture he receives in 
the Sunday-school. However, it should be dis¬ 
tinctly understood always that the home is the 
place where the child should receive not only 
the first, but the major part of his religious 
training. It is in the home that men and wo¬ 
men are made or unmade. The parents hold 
the key to the situation. They are to form so 
that their children will not need to be re- 

167 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


formed. The responsibility must be placed 
where God places it. To every parent with 
the gift of the child is God’s charge: “Take 
this child away and nurse it, and I will give 
thee thy wages,” also the promise, “Train up 
a child in the way he should go, and even when 
he is old he will not depart from it” (Prov. 
22:6). Hence the church must make the par¬ 
ents her ally. She must secure their sympa¬ 
thetic cooperation or much of her work will be 
futile. 

The Nature of the Beginner. As the child 
enters the Beginner’s Department, the teacher 
should remember that the nature of the child 
determines how to nurture his religious life. 
The child himself is the teacher’s truest and 
best teacher. What are his characteristics, his 
interests, his ways of learning? The answers 
to these tell the teacher what her methods 
should be. He still learns far more by absorp¬ 
tion, contagion, and suggestion—by what he 
sees and feels—than by what he hears. Exam¬ 
ple is far more potent than all of the “thou 
shalts” or “thou shalt nots.” The atmosphere 
in which he is placed, the attitudes of people 
around him, are still the influences that count 
most in his life. 


168 


EARLIEST CHILDHOOD 


In addition to the above, the following points 
must be kept in mind: 1. He is very active. 
He wants to be doing something—always busy. 
2. He is curious. He is a great questioner. 
His questions are deep and mysterious. He is 
getting his simple philosophy for the basis of 
all his later thinking. 3. He is imitative. He 
especially wants to be like those whom he ad¬ 
mires. He not only imitates the acts of those 
around him but their feelings are contagious. 
If they are fearful, he is; if they are nervous, 
he becomes so; if they are happy, peaceful, 
reverent, prayerful, he is too. 4. He is im¬ 
aginative— sometimes hardly able to distin¬ 
guish between fact and fancy. He personifies 
the flowers and the trees and the objects 
around him, even to the broom stick which 
prances him over the house. 5. He is self-con¬ 
scious. He begins to conceal or to color facts 
to suit his purposes. 6. His play is his real 
work. 7. He has power now to appreciate real 
stories. He loves to hear them told and retold 
again and again. 

The Personality of the Teacher. As she 

looks upon the child and studies his nature, his 
needs, the avenues of approach to his soul, 
like Isaiah her thoughts turn inward and she 

169 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


cries , 1 ‘ What manner of person ought I to be! ” 
If she is to nurture the religious life as she 
ought she must be the embodiment of the liv¬ 
ing Lord, not 

“A lovely apparition, sent 
To be a moment’s ornament.” 

Up to this time the child’s mother has been his 
all in all; now she shares her throne with an¬ 
other. His conception of Jesus will be what he 
sees in his teacher. She may not possess phy¬ 
sical beauty, but her smile is to him a benedic¬ 
tion, her approval his highest joy. To him 

“Her eyes as stars of twilight fair 
Like twilights, too, her dusky hair.” 

She should have the mother heart, the mother 
love, the mother understanding, but even more 
than these, in her life, in her person, through 
her countenance, she should mirror faithfully 
to the little child, “the One altogether lovely.” 
She should not disappoint him. In later years 
he should not have to unlearn any of those 
things that he learned from her—not from her 
lips, but from her spirit, her life. He is so ac¬ 
tive, so restless, she should be patient. He is 
so apt to do strange things and ask strange 
questions, she should be resourceful and know 

170 


EARLIEST CHILDHOOD 


how to answer him. He is such an imitator 
and looks upon her as clothed with such 
angelic light, her love—her Christian love— 
must never fail. She should be one whom he 
may imitate. Watch him at play and you will 
hear her tones and see her mannerisms, her 
gestures, often even the facial expression. 
Realizing that her task is to bring the little 
ones to Him and to so nourish them that they 
shall grow, not only in wisdom, but in favor 
with God, she must rely upon the Divine to be 
her strength and wisdom and grace. 

Worship. Not only the teacher, but the room 
itself and every part of the program should 
lead the child to be reverent and worshipful. 
The room should be clean, orderly, and well 
ventilated, with modulated lighting. The car¬ 
pet, the walls, and the shades should harmon¬ 
ize. There should be a few well chosen pic¬ 
tures hung low. As the children enter they are 
met by teachers who help them remove their 
wraps and hang them on their own hooks. The 
superintendent and teachers move about quiet¬ 
ly. Naturally the children do likewise. They 
take their places in the circle, the chairs hav¬ 
ing been arranged previously. The greeting 
song, the birthday and cradle roll service and 

171 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


the offering, as well as the prayer, while en¬ 
tered into with glad joyfulness and natural¬ 
ness, is at the same time reverent and worship¬ 
ful. The superintendent, the teachers, the 
room, the things done—all suggest it is God’s 
day and God’s house. While they are to be 
glad and joyous before Him they are to be 
quiet and worship Jehovah. The prayer, 
though offered by the superintendent, is the 
children’s as it expresses their needs, hence 
they enter into the spirit of it. 

During the circle talk the superintendent 
continually directs their thoughts to the kind 
loving heavenly Father who gives them such 
kind parents, clothes, and food, and leads them 
to see how they may do things for Him. Here, 
or in the classes before taking up the story, 
they retell the story of the Sunday before, il¬ 
lustrating by gesture or facial expression or 
by drawing. As they are such born imitators 
they will enter into it naturally if they have 
the opportunity. They are encouraged also to 
tell how they carried out the thought of the les¬ 
son through the week as directed by the 
teacher. The lesson reaches its climax in the 
story. Nothing should follow this to dispel the 
spiritual thought. The children may them- 

172 


EARLIEST CHILDHOOD 


selves, or through the superintendent, express 
the impression made by the story in a short 
prayer or in a stanza of a hymn or by quoting 
together some memory verse. The entire pro¬ 
gram has centered around the thought of lead¬ 
ing the child into the love of the Lord. Love to 
Him has been not only aroused, but expressed 
through the enumeration of His blessings, 
through song, through prayer. He goes away 
feeling that the day is different from other 
days. The place is different from other places. 
The teachers aid in getting on their wraps and 
they leave the room in a spirit of worship. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

Show that “religious education” may stop far 
short of devotional training. Show that devotional 
training may stop far short of Christian nurture. 
What is the most important “three years” of a 
child’s life? Why? How does the child get his 
Christian nurture during these years? How may 
the Sunday-school and the church help to make the 
nurture of this early period what it ought to be? 


173 


An American teacher teas once employed in a sec¬ 
ular school in Japan under a contract which hound 
him not to say a word on the subject of Christian¬ 
ity. The obligation was scrupulously kept, but it 
could not obscure the unconscious influence of a 
Christian spirit which wrought in him a daily trans¬ 
figuration. He was steadily watched as the uncon¬ 
scious virtue went out of him like a divine halo 
about his life, and the young men under his teaching 
began to seek the source of that speechless but all- 
conquering form of life. Forty of them, unknown to 
him, met in a grove and signed a covenant to aban¬ 
don idolatry. Twenty-five of them entered the Kito 
Christian training school, and some of them became 
ministers of the gospel. Not a word was spoken on 
the subject of religion by this Christian teacher to 
his students. He simply lived the Christian life be¬ 
fore them: unconscious influence did the work .— 
Dr. J. H. Snowden, 


X74 


CHAPTER IV 


THE PRIMARY AGE 

“Shades of the prison-house begin to close 
Upon the growing boy.” 

Reaching the Goal. It was Decision Day. 
The superintendent of a large Primary De¬ 
partment was seeking to lead the children into 
a personal acquaintance with Jesus, their 
Friend and Savior. The visitor saw the lov¬ 
ing, reverent response in the countenances be¬ 
fore him and knew that they were both seeing 
and feeling the truth—that Jesus was in their 
midst blessing them. At the close of the su¬ 
perintendent’s talk she said, “While we bow 
our heads and close our eyes and sing, 

Jesus loves me! He who died, 

Heaven’s gates to open wide; 

He will wash away my sin, 

Let the Savior now come in, 

any child who will open the door of his heart 
and let Jesus come in may stand.” As they 
sang quietly and reverently, one, and another, 
and then another arose, until a number were 

175 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


standing. More would have arisen but some 
had asked Him to come in before, as was evi¬ 
denced by the spiritual light which shone from 
the face of one golden haired girl, who sat in 
the front row and sang with heartfelt devo¬ 
tion. 

Why Stress An Early Decision. It is time to 
be concerned if the child has not opened the 
door of his heart and invited Jesus in before 
he starts to school. It has been stated that 
even earlier than this the child develops the 
tendency to color things to suit his own pur¬ 
poses. Other sinful tendencies begin to mani¬ 
fest themselves. The child now knows right 
from wrong. Habit formation is in process. 
If he develops right habits, it will be because 
he desires to do right things. While the teacher 
may do much to make a certain act desirable, 
the surest way to cause him to want to do right 
is to have Jesus in his heart. At this early age 
he begins to feel the force of the principle, 
when he would do good, evil is present. Unless 
this is met by a power greater than his own, 
the ‘‘shades of the prison-house’’ of sin will 
begin to close over his life. And day by day, 
week by week, gradually but surely, he will 
lose that glory that came with him from God— 

176 


THE PRIMARY AGE 


that innocence, that trustfulness, that purity 
of soul. The light of that glory will sooner or 
later fade away and in its place will be dark 
shadows. This is why at this critical point he 
should have given him that inner constraint 
which comes from being a child of God. To 
give him a desire to do the thing that will 
please the Christ who loves him so and whose 
he is, is giving him the highest religious nur¬ 
ture possible. A second reason for stressing 
his conversion now is, it is easy at this time 
to lead him to the Savior. It is easier now 
than it will ever be again. It can yet be said 
of him, “Of such is the kingdom of heaven.’’ 
Not that he does not need to be born again, but 
he has the qualities which make it easy for him 
to receive Christ and be led by Him. He has 
dependence, teachableness, trustfulness. He 
has, as yet, probably not known sin. How 
blessed if he comes to know Christ so early that 
he never need to know sin! 

Education Begins. The child’s training 
previous to the age of six or seven has been by 
suggestion and impression through example 
and atmosphere, rather than by instruction. He 
continues to learn through instincts and feel¬ 
ings, but now lessons are to be explicitly 

177 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


taught. He is sent to school. He begins to 
learn to read. The serious work of education 
begins. Since this is true the worker should 
here pause to inquire what it means to teach or 
to train. 

What is Teaching or Training? Patterson 
DuBois says: ‘ ‘ Teaching is enabling another to 
restate the truth in terms of his own life. ’ * The 
test of teaching then is not what does a child 
know, but what does he do. ‘ ‘ And all thy chil¬ 
dren shall be taught of Jehovah; and great 
shall be the peace of thy children” (Isa. 54: 
13). By “taught” Isaiah did not mean merely 
instructed. Great peace does not necessarily 
follow mere instruction in right doing. A 
truth is taught only when it has found fertile 
soil in the heart and has sprung up in action in 
the life. True teaching leads to action as well 
as knowledge. To teach is to so present the 
truth to the mind that so strong a desire for 
right doing will be inspired that impression 
will become expression. Teaching is like 
breathing. There are two processes—inhala¬ 
tion and exhalation, taking into the mind and 
heart and giving out in the activities of the 
life. This is what Solomon had in mind when 
he said: “Train up a child in the way he 

178 


THE PRIMARY AGE 


should go, and even when he is old he will not 
depart from it” (Prov. 22:6). 

Training differs from true teaching only in 
that it extends over a greater period of time— 
in the case of the child, years. Training is 
continued teaching. It is causing to act effi¬ 
ciently. It enables the learner to apply his 
knowledge. It transforms information into 
practise. It causes the individual to be a doer 
of the word as well as a knower. An untaught 
Chinese Christian had caught the thought. He 
was memorizing Scripture and was making 
rapid progress. One day he failed to appear 
to recite his texts. And the next day and the 
next he was missing. Finally, after some weeks 
had passed, he appeared one day to recite. 
Asked to explain his absence, he said: “Mis¬ 
sionary, this was a hard one to live. I tried 
and tried and tried before I could do it. I 
could not come and say it until I had learned 
it.” To him to learn the text was to live it. 

The Primary Child. How does this child 
differ from a Beginner? As his nature deter¬ 
mines his nurture, it is necessary to know him. 
Space will permit a very brief glance at him, 
but the teacher should know his environment, 
his interests, his characteristics, for as in the 

179 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


case of the Beginner, he is her teacher. His 
needs and ways of learning determine what 
shall be taught and how it shall be taught. He 
is no longer bounded by home and home inter¬ 
ests. He has entered school. He is learning, 
not only to read, but to play with other chil¬ 
dren, and to do things. A sense of competi¬ 
tion and rivalry develops. He makes collec¬ 
tions. He mixes imagination with his imita¬ 
tion. He becomes creative. His interests in 
stories continue. His moral and religious 
problems still deal with the concrete. He still 
acts from suggestion rather than from choice. 
What nurture does he need? His physical na¬ 
ture demands air, food, sunshine, and exercise 
if he is to grow as he ought. His religious na¬ 
ture has similar demands. 

Atmosphere. The room, the equipment, the 
teacher—these make the atmosphere, but chiefly 
the teacher. Her tastes, her habits, her tact¬ 
fulness, her purpose, her prayers, what she is, 
determine to a large extent, not only what the 
room and equipment are, but what the chil¬ 
dren shall become. It is the transmuting power 
of a teacher’s influence that counts for most 
in giving pupils a desire to be right and to do 
right. Example is a more potent factor in nur- 

180 


THE PRIMARY AGE 


turing the religious life of the child than pre¬ 
cept. “Whatsoever things are true, whatso¬ 
ever things are honorable, whatsoever things 
are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatso¬ 
ever things are lovely, whatsoever things are 
of good report’’—these are the things that the 
child should see and feel in the teacher as well 
as hear from her lips. It is even more neces¬ 
sary that the Primary teacher’s life be perfect 
and entire, wanting nothing, than the Begin¬ 
ner’s, for any lapses from Christ-like living 
are not only noticed more quickly by the Pri¬ 
mary child, but have greater significance in 
character building. 

Food. The food is the truth to be taught. 
But the Primary child can digest and assim¬ 
ilate truth only in certain forms. He can not 
understand general terms. Words to him are 
often meaningless. They have no magic power. 
He can see the lesson truth through a story. 
It is a perfectly transparent medium of 
thought to the child. He can see the meaning 
of a story through oral speech as one sees a 
landscape through a clear window pane. He 
loves a story. It is concrete. The story is the 
answer to his need and to his interests. It sat¬ 
isfies his hunger, hence the Bible truth is given 

181 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


to him in a Bible story. Suppose the adult 
lesson is the thirteenth chapter of First Corin¬ 
thians; the theme, Divine Love Never Faileth. 
The primary child can get the thought if it 
is clothed in the story of The Prodigal Son. 

Mastery of the Story. The teacher needs to 
have a mastery of the story she is to tell. Its 
facts should be familiar. She should have in 
mind a clear and simple outline of leading 
points. She should see its central idea—the 
truth. The truth is the heart of the story. It 
is reflected from the story easily and caught 
up by the children without any pointing out 
on the part of the teacher, if the story has been 
well told. She should know her story so well 
that she can tell it easily and naturally. The 
objects, buildings, palaces, woods, caves, ani¬ 
mals, persons and places should be sharply im¬ 
aged by the imagination; the feelings of the 
people should be keenly realized. The use of 
even rude and untechnical sketches on the 
blackboard by teachers who have no acquired 
skill in artistic drawing, are of great value in 
giving a quick and accurate perception to the 
child. The teacher needs to acquire freedom in 
illustrative devices, gesture, and facial expres¬ 
sion. The children will, of course, catch this 

182 


THE PRIMARY AGE 


spirit and manifest it in their expression of 
the story. The story told so that it is seen 
always arouses feeling and this leads to the 
next point in nurture—light. 

Light. As light enables one to see in the 
natural world, so feeling enables one to see and 
act in the moral and spiritual world. Some one 
has said that one-half of the work of education 
is training the feelings. The reason so much 
instruction falls short of training is because a 
friendly feeling is not aroused toward the 
truth taught. The reason so many children 
who do well when the teacher’s eye is upon 
them, act so opposite the moment she leaves 
the room, is because their feelings have not 
been trained. A child may receive very def¬ 
inite instruction about property rights or truth 
telling, but continue to appropriate what does 
not belong to him because he has not been 
made to care to do otherwise. A teacher may 
instruct so well that the child understands 
perfectly, but at the same time he may hate 
cordially. This is why it is so necessary for 
the teacher to know the child. His interests 
are her points of contact. They make it pos¬ 
sible to lead him to the lesson truth with such 
a feeling of friendliness that knowledge will 

183 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


spring into action. The child’s sympathy with 
the subject matter is absolutely necessary to 
successful teaching. The attitude of the stu¬ 
dent toward his work makes the lesson either 
valuable or valueless to him. A few Bible 
facts imparted to him do not necessarily make 
him more religious. “What a child has felt he 
never forgets; what he has merely been told he 
may not remember five minutes. ’ ’ A right ap¬ 
proach is like the sunshine. It causes the truth 
to spring up and grow in the life. 

Expressional Work. Teaching should not 
only begin in life relations, but should end in 
life relations also. The experiences of the 
child’s daily life should be the natural easy 
approach to the lesson, and that lesson truth 
should naturally and easily find expression in 
the activities of his daily life. Our religious 
teaching must be linked up with life, practise. 
This is why expressional work is given to the 
child in Sunday-school. Through his retelling 
the story or drawing or pasting or modeling 
to help somebody else to see the story, or un¬ 
derstand it, he not only comes to know it bet¬ 
ter himself, but it is a step toward his living 
it. It is the teacher’s duty to find ways to help 
the child to express his self-activity. She 

184 


THE PRIMARY AGE 


should not only direct his handwork, but she 
should plan through-the-week activities. She 
should seek cooperation with the mother. To¬ 
gether they should lead the child to practise 
the truth taught—obedience, kindness to ani¬ 
mals, self-denial, service—until habits are 
formed and the truth becomes a part of life. 

Worship. What does all of the foregoing 
have to do with worship ? Just this. Worship 
is the feeling or the act of reverential regard 
toward God. Just as in the Beginners’ pro¬ 
gram, so in the Primary program every part— 
not only the singing and the prayer, but the 
offering, the birthday exercise, the handwork, 
the story—each part, directed by the spiritual 
teacher is either an act or a feeling of rever¬ 
ence toward God. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

Compare and contrast the nature of the Beginner 
and the nature of the Primary child. Why should 
there be great concern if the child has not received 
Jesus into his heart before he starts to school? What 
is the difference between instruction and training? 
Explain what is meant by spiritual (1) atmosphere, 
(2) food, (3) sunshine or light, (4) exercise. What 
fruit toward God and toward man will Christian 
nurture produce? 


185 


Mighty the wizard 
Who found me at sunrise 
Sleeping and woke me 
And learned me magic! 

Great the Master 

And siveet the magic. 

* * * * 

A demon awoke me, 

The light retreated, 

The landskip darken'd 
The melody deaden'd, 

The Master whisper'd, 

“Follow the gleam." 

* * * * 

Not of the sunlight, 

Not of the moonlight, 

Not of the starlight! 

O young mariner, 

Down to the haven, 

Call your companions, 

Lau?ich your vessel 
And crowd your canvas, 

And, ere it vanishes 
Over the margin, 

After it, follow it, 

Follow the gleam. 

—Alfred Tennyson. 


186 


CHAPTER Y 


THE JUNIOR AND INTERMEDIATE AGE 

“I have looked 

Upon * * * 

* * * Something that is gone. 

Whither is fled the visionary gleam? 

Where is it now, the glory and the dream?” 

The writer recently visited a large Junior 
Department. Over two hundred were present. 
It was Decision Day—the same day and the 
same school, by the way, referred to in the pre¬ 
ceding chapter, where the Primary children 
were so faithfully and so beautifully being led 
to Christ. The superintendent was a young wo¬ 
man of unusual ability—a leader with power 
to accomplish what she set out to do. Her aim 
was to have the whole department confess 
Christ that day. Perhaps a dozen or twenty 
remained in small groups discussing the les¬ 
son with their teachers. All the others had gone 
into the inquiry room where the superinten¬ 
dent was explaining what it means to accept 
Christ, using Matthew 10: 32. It was made to 
seem a very desirable thing to have Christ 

187 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


confess us before the angels in heaven. ‘‘In 
order to have Him do this,” said she, “you 
must confess Him here publicly. To confess 
Him means to say His name in public, thank¬ 
ing Him for the good things He has given you. 
Just a brief sentence is all that is necessary. 
Now let us do it.” The children did as she di¬ 
rected, with the understanding that by so do¬ 
ing they were accepting Christ—making their 
decision. Leaving a teacher in charge in the 
inquiry room, she hurried into the main room, 
went through the same explanation before 
those who were there, and secured their prom¬ 
ise that when the children returned, they 
too would confess Christ, which they did in the 
same manner as the others had done. The 
tragedy of it all! 

Age of Decision for Christ. The Junior age 
is the normal time for conscious decision for 
Christ. The Junior boys and girls who have 
not previously accepted Christ have conscious¬ 
ly done many wrong acts, some of them re¬ 
peated and serious. They know they have 
sinned. They remember the time when they 
told the first untruth, when they took the first 
thing that did not belong to them. What kind 
of teaching do they need? Repentance and 

188 


THE JUNIOR AND INTERMEDIATE AGE 


confession of sin is the only way to peace and 
pardon. What might that Junior superin¬ 
tendent not have accomplished that day in the 
lives of those boys and girls? What did she 
do? If the blind lead the blind, both fall into 
the same ditch. When the heart is reaching 
out after God, taking only an introductory 
step satisfies the desire somewhat and so re¬ 
tards further action. “Woe unto them that 
heal the hurt of the daughter of my people 
slightly!” Who will question whether a 
teacher who does not know Christ as a personal 
Savior from sin and how to lead others to Him 
should teach a Sunday-school class, much less 
superintend a department! 

The Hero Worshiping Age. This is the time 
when the stories of the great men and women 
of the Bible and the heroes of the cross in 
every age will be eagerly listened to and read, 
and a longing to emulate their lives will be in¬ 
spired. The boy’s hero may be his father if 
the father cares enough to have it so, and it is 
a mother’s rich heritage to so enter into her 
daughter’s life that she would rather be like 
her mother than to be like anybody else. A 
great service will be rendered the child if dur¬ 
ing this period he has plenty of good books to 

189 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


read. Through these he will see that the 
world’s heroes are those who did great deeds, 
not for their own glory or for selfish ends, but 
who achieved for God and for their fellow 
men. Lives of missionaries will especially 
show this. 

The Golden Memory Age. This is the period 
of increased mental activity when facts are 
easily learned and when the child hungers to 
find out things—the how and the why, the 
what and the when and the where. Supple¬ 
mental lessons in Bible facts and geography 
and history and the memorizing of hymns and 
Scripture portions as worship materials will 
not only satisfy this hunger but also lay up a 
store of knowledge for future use. 

The Energetic Age. This is also the period 
of pent-up energy and activity which must 
find expression. Why not set the boy or the 
girl to do something for others and so form 
habits of service! He delights to be of service 
if a little appreciation is shown. What a 
worthy assistant he makes to the cradle roll 
superintendent! How he delights in minister¬ 
ing to the sick, the aged and the poor of the 
community! Whenever through a story the 
Juniors see and feel a need they always say, 

190 


THE JUNIOR AND INTERMEDIATE AGE 


“Can’t we do something?” The teacher will 
be rendering real Christian nurture if she 
helps them to find a way just then to do the 
thing that their hearts prompt. 

The Habit-Clinching Age. Form habits they 
will. Their stored-up energy must have an 
outlet in some activity, and every action leaves 
its impress and makes repetition easier. Why 
not through the wise direction of the teacher 
form habits of regular church attendance, 
daily Bible reading, and private prayer, tith¬ 
ing, and systematic giving? The method of 
habit formation is simple. Secure the desired 
action. Secure its successive repetition, with¬ 
out lapses. Make the act desirable. Hero wor¬ 
ship may help. The example in the home and 
on the playground mean much. Hence, the 
teacher must secure cooperation of the parent, 
and if possible, of day-school teachers. 

The Goal. Some one has said the teacher’s 
preparation may be divided into three parts: 
the starting point, the route, and the destina¬ 
tion. The starting point is the carefully 
worded aim and the approach. The route is 
the lesson itself, the story or the biography 
that enables the child to see and feel the truth 
and stirs his heart to action. The destination 

191 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


is the application and expression of that truth. 
Not merely in a statement in the close of the 
lesson but in the life through the week. It 
will be seen, then, that it is the purpose of the 
teacher, not merely to direct his thoughts for 
a brief period on Sunday, but to aid him in 
practising the truth taught every day in the 
week. Only thus will she help the child to 
grow up in the nurture and admonition of the 
Lord. 

The Intermediate Age. The breath of a new 
life is being breathed into the Intermediate 
child. It courses to every part of his being. 
It so fills him and thrills him that suddenly he 
seems a different person. Physically, men¬ 
tally, morally, spiritually—every way the 
change is felt and seen. He does not under¬ 
stand himself and what is far worse, often his 
parents and teachers do not understand him. 
New and worthy desires, ambitions, resolves, 
ideals possess him, and at times control him. 
New temptations, too, from without and from 
within beset him, and at times master him. 
From all around comes a medley of voices call¬ 
ing. Ease, pleasure, wealth, fame, self-denial, 
service, duty, responsibility, loyalty, beckon to 
him. Heredity, training already received, hab- 

192 


THE JUNIOR AND INTERMEDIATE AGE 


its formed, and environment—all are deter¬ 
mining influences. Surely here and now the 
church and the Sunday-school and the home 
should do well their part, for choices made now 
are far-reaching and often lasting. 

A Transition. The new sense of individual¬ 
ity that has flooded his soul has made all things 
new. Because he was a hero worshiper and a 
doer of deeds, the Junior found it easy to yield 
ready obedience to one who had power and 
strength and courage. Parallel somewhat to 
the independence and assertiveness of the Be¬ 
ginner when he first awoke to the fact that he 
was an individual, the Intermediate, although 
still a hero worshiper, although filled with life 
and activity—a doer of deeds—rebels against 
authority. The seat of the center of control 
suddenly shifts from outside himself to within. 
Commands irritate. He is no longer the frank 
outspoken Junior. He thinks, but he keeps his 
thoughts to himself. His attitude is that of 
one charged by his teacher with some supposed 
misdeed who was asked by the superintendent 
for a statement of his case. To her every ques¬ 
tion his only reply for some time was, “I’m 
not sayin’.” He is secretive. He is idealis¬ 
tic. He is full of day-dreams, of things he is 

193 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


going to do and be. These change often. His 
teacher may render him a great service by in¬ 
troducing him to the great characters of the 
past so that his ideals shall be worthy, and by 
inspiring him to try to make his dreams come 
true. He has a keener sense of appreciation 
than he has had before. He may not express 
it but he feels it. His senses are acute. The 
‘ ‘ otheristic ’ ’ feeling is becoming strong. It is 
manifested in loyalty to his group. Because of 
this there will be a ready response to the mis¬ 
sionary activities as he is made to see and feel 
them. By missionary activities is meant the 
service that may be rendered in the name of 
the Master at home, at church, at school, in 
the community, as well as in distant lands. Of 
these the teacher should encourage him to 
make a list. She may aid him by suggesting 
other service activities and by lending enthusi¬ 
asm and inspiration in carrying them out. 

His Needs. Now, if ever, he needs to be 
dealt with gently, with sympathy and under¬ 
standing and consideration. He should be ap¬ 
proached through his interests. They are 
varied. To know them you must know the in¬ 
dividual. However, he is usually interested in 
biography, in the lives of those who embody 

194 


THE JUNIOR AND INTERMEDIATE AGE 


heroic or striking qualities and ideals. The mo¬ 
tives, purposes, ambitions, struggles, achieve¬ 
ments of a true character appeal to him. “The 
power of great personalities in history to touch 
the child with marvelous contagion of the 
spirit is surpassed only by the personal influ¬ 
ence of the individuals with whom he is im¬ 
mediately associated. ’ * The lives of those who 
exhibit the qualities most to be desired by the 
boy or the girl of this age should be selected: 
Daniel for self-control; Joseph for purity; 
Esther and Ruth for loyalty; Elijah, John the 
Baptist and Jeremiah for moral courage; Bar¬ 
nabas and Mary for generosity; Joseph and 
Jesus for forgiveness; Samuel for honesty and 
faithfulness. 

The underlying principle for this is ex¬ 
pressed by an eminent authority as follows: 
“Moral teachings are involved in life studies, 
but the purpose is to present them in the con¬ 
crete as embodied in conduct. So, and only 
so, are the feelings touched. The imagination 
becomes our ally....We are seeking to make 
the great men of the Bible familiar characters, 
that we may live with them in imagination, 
feel the impress of their personality, be in¬ 
spired with their victories, and be taught by 

195 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


their errors. The end sought is a religious im¬ 
pulse through the appreciation of noble qual¬ 
ities which the pupil sees in heroic lives. It 
is the total impression of the life upon which 
we depend, and the pupil must be given a full 
length picture that he may see the character 
as a whole/’’ 

The Teacher. The Intermediate’s teacher 
should possess the qualities of heart and life 
that are desirable for the pupil to possess. He 
must measure up to his standard. He demands 
truth in the inward parts. Profession and prac¬ 
tise must accord. The life must ring true. The 
teacher or parent can not indulge in doubtful 
amusements or uncertain practises. The one 
who does such is not his ideal of a Christian. 
If the life of the parents and the teacher can 
bear the search light that he has turned on it 
during these years, what a light-house, indeed, 
that life becomes in the later years of his ado¬ 
lescent life when the storms of doubt sweep 
over his soul, pointing him to a haven of faith 
and rest. The teacher should be his friend 
who shares his ambitions, knows his tempta¬ 
tions, sympathizes with his successes and fail¬ 
ures—in short understands him and loves 
him and trusts him. Such love and trust will 

196 


THE JUNIOR AND INTERMEDIATE AGE 


be an anchor to his soul. The method and the 
portion of Scripture chosen for the lesson do 
not matter so much in these years as does the 
teacher. 

The Goal. This is the time when God’s voice 
is very unmistakably heard in the soul. If 
previous to this time he has heard the Master’s 
“Follow me” and has been doing it, the call 
now is to a deeper, fuller dedication of himself 
to God and to His service. It is the high privi¬ 
lege of the pastor or teacher or parent or Chris¬ 
tian friend to find the lad or the maiden as the 
case may be, as Samuel found David; and if 
not by “horn and oil,” by a gentle sincere 
word or a heartfelt prayer, help him to know 
and respond to the call of God so that he, too, 
as he quietly and faithfully performs the hum¬ 
ble every day service, may fully prepare for 
the greater service before him. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

Compare and contrast the characteristics of the 
Junior and the Intermediate. What is the goal of 
Sunday-school work and of all Christian training? 
Discuss the teacher’s responsibility and opportunity. 
What manner of person ought she to be? Why does 
a child love a story? What is included in the teach¬ 
er’s mastery of the story? 

197 


“But as many as received him, to them gave he 
the right to become children of God, even to them 
that believe on his name: who were born, not of 
blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of 
man, but of God” (John 1:12,13). When it pleased 
God to bring Abraham and his family into covenant 
with Him, that family consisted of three classes of 
persons; first of all, there were his own children; 
secondly, there were those who were born of his 
men-servants and maidservants; thirdly, there were 
those slaves, whom lie purchased and adopted. All 
these three classes were admitted into covenant 
with God, by reason of their relation to Abraham. 
“Abraham took Islimael his son, and all that were 
born in his house, and all that were bought with his 
money and circumcised them” (Gen. 17: 23). Of 
these classes, Islimael was born of blood, as being 
his own flesh and blood, as we say; those born of the 
flesh were the other children born in his house, not 
his own; and those born of the will of man were 
those who, having no right to his protection, yet 
bought of his free will, acquired a right by purchase 
and adoption. To these three classes were the bene¬ 
fits of the first covenant confined. The truth, xohich 
John here announces, is that to all who received the 
message of the Lord Jesus, all who believed on His 
name, to all those He gave the same power, even to 
become sons of God.—The Biblical Illustrator. 


198 


CHAPTER VI 


SONSHIP 

The Divine Father. “The Fatherhood of 
God” is a phrase which rolls easily from the 
tongue of man. Properly defined and applied 
it is a great truth. As currently used and ap¬ 
plied, it is a grave and dangerous error. In 
the broadly paternal sense of creation and 
providential preservation God is the Father 
of all men (Acts 17:28; Eph. 4:6; Heb. 12: 
9). Through redemption, He is the Father of 
all potentially and by plan, just as, through 
redemption, all men are the sons of God poten¬ 
tially and by plan. But actually, and in the 
filial sense of true Fatherhood and sonship, 
God is the Father only of those who are made 
sons by a divine act of adoption and a spiritual 
birth. 

There are three orders of divine sons. The 
highest, the most exalted, and the most unique, 
is the eternal Sonship of Christ. Although 
the center of polemical controversy through 
the ages and still ridiculed by some, yet the 

199 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


profound truth remains that He is the Son of 
the living God (Matt. 16:16) ; that He and the 
Father are one (John 10:30) ; and that His 
throne is for ever and ever (Heb. 1:8). In the 
second place angels are called sons of God (Job 
1:6; 38:7). In the third place the obedient 
subjects of redemption are given the right to 
become the sons of God (John 1:12). 

Sonship in the Old Testament. While the 
progressive revelation of the Old Testament 
was designed to reveal Jehovah in His unity, 
majesty and power, yet the divine program of 
sonship was not neglected. Moses was charged 
with the duty of informing Pharaoh that ge¬ 
neric Israel was God’s son (Ex. 4: 22). The 
Israelitish nation was taught the fact of son- 
ship (Deut. 14:1). Solomon was a type of 
this sonship (2 Sam. 7:14). The redemptive 
fatherhood of God was acknowledged by Isaiah 
(Isa. 63:16). A spiritual order of sonship was 
definitely foretold by Hosea (Hosea 1:10). 

Sonship in the New Testament. Sonship is 
included in the prehistoric purpose (Eph. 1: 
5). It is promised (Luke 6:35; 2 Cor. 6:18; 
Gal. 4:5). Sonship is conditioned, 1. Upon the 
atoning merit of Christ (John 1:12,13; Gal. 
4: 5, 6; Heb. 2:10,11). 2. Upon renunciation 

200 


SONSHIP 

of sin (Acts 2:38; 2 Cor. 6:17,18; 1 John 3: 
10). 3. Upon faith in Christ (Gal. 3:26). 4. 
Upon the new birth (John 3:3; 4:10-14; Acts 
26:18; 2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 2:5; 1 Pet. 1:22, 
23). 

As a saving experience sonship includes the 
following distinguishing points: forgiveness of 
sins (Acts 2:38) ; a new creation (2 Cor. 5: 
17) ; adoption into the family of God (Rom. 8: 
15; Eph. 2:19) ; freedom from sin (Rom. 8: 
2; 1 John 3:9); deliverance from the domina¬ 
tion of the world (John 17:14-16; James 4: 
4; 1 John 2:15-17) ; the witness of the Spirit 
(Rom. 8:16) ; impartation of a spiritual and 
divine nature (John 1: 18; James 1: 18; 2 
Pet. 1: 4; 1 John 5:18-20) ; bestowment of the 
grace of divine love (1 John 4:7) ; fellowship 
with Christ in the heavenlies (Eph. 2:6) ; di¬ 
vine guidance (Rom. 8:14) ; reception of spiri¬ 
tual light, knowledge and glory (2 Cor. 4:6); 
gift of a living hope (1 Pet. 1:3); joint heir¬ 
ship with Christ (Rom. 8:17; Gal. 3:29). 

The spiritual sons of God are: obedient (1 
Pet. 1:14) ; free from guilt, legal bondage and 
fear of death (Rom. 8:15; Gal. 5:1; Heb. 2: 
12-15) ; elevated with a holy boldness and royal 
dignity (Heb. 10:19-22; 1 Pet. 2:9; 4:14); 

201 



THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


blessed with present protection, consolations 
and abundant provisions (Luke 12: 27-32; John 
14:12-21; 15 :15-27; 1 Cor. 3: 21-23 ; 2 Cor. 1: 
4; James 2:5; 1 Pet. 1:3-9; 2 Pet. 1:1-11); 
members of the one great family in heaven and 
earth, an earnest of the restored divine broth¬ 
erhood which is to be (Eph. 3:15). 

The Children of Darkness. Standing in the 
sharpest contrast with the sons of God are the 
children of darkness (1 Thess. 5:5-8). The 
same moral blindness that misapplies the “Fa¬ 
therhood of God,” misapplies the phrase, 
“brotherhood of man.” Racially the phrasing 
is true (Acts 17 : 26). Experimentally and ac¬ 
tually, as the result of sin, it is true, for all men 
are spiritually dead (Rom. 5:12; 1 Cor. 15: 
21). Whatever differences and distinctions 
may be made through accident of birth, envi¬ 
ronment, education or culture, morally “there 
is no distinction; for all have sinned, and fall 
short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:22,23). 
Hence, if by the “brotherhood of man” is 
meant the universal sweep of sin, the common 
heritage of spiritual death, the unanimity of 
obedience to the god of this world, well and 
good. On the other hand, if the intention is 
to suggest a racial relationship to God in- 

202 


SONSHIP 


volving moral sonship wherein there are no 
prodigals in any literal or actual sense, but 
many disobedient and somewhat selfish and 
stubborn children, all of whom will ultimately 
accept the chastisements of the Father and 
stand corrected before Him, then it is a blas¬ 
phemous falsehood. 

Two Classes of Men. The New Testament 
recognizes two classes of men—natural and 
spiritual. As already noted, the spiritual man 
is the natural man regenerated, and, by that 
act of divine power—an experimental rebirth 
or birth from above (John 3:3)—constituted 
a son of God. The natural man is blind to 
spiritual things (1 Cor. 2:14). He is in the 
flesh, minding the things of the flesh, con¬ 
trolled by the flesh and so can not please God 
(Rom. 8:5-8). His conduct is shaped by the 
world-system and its prince, thereby making 
him a son of disobedience instead of a son of 
God (Eph. 2:2). He is not a child of God 
(Rom. 9: 8). He is a child of the devil (1 John 
3:7). He is blinded by the god of this world 
(2 Cor. 4:4). He is hopeless and godless (Eph. 
2:12). He will have no inheritance in the 
kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9). Rejecting the 
saving merits of the Son of God, the wrath of 

203 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


God abides upon him (John 3:36), and his 
failure to obey the gospel exposes him to the 
vengeance of a holy God (2 Thess. 2:7-9). The 
sum total of natural men constitute a crooked 
and perverse generation (Phil. 2:15). 

The Marks of Sonship. Family relation¬ 
ships are usually marked by distinctive like¬ 
nesses. Children resemble their parents in 
features, expressions, and disposition. The 
most cutting sentence uttered by Jesus was 
when He said to the Jews, “Ye are of your fa¬ 
ther the devil” (John 8:44). It was a plain 
way of saying their spirit and conduct re¬ 
flected a family likeness. Professing to be the 
children of God, the likeness gave the lie to the 
profession and proved they belonged to Sa¬ 
tan’s family. God’s sons bear the marks of 
sonship. Their life and conduct reflect their 
divine paternity. 

1. Spiritual life. Next to the resurrection 
of Christ from the dead in importance in New 
Testament teaching is the fact of spiritual life 
in the believer. In fact, it grows out of that 
fundamental truth and is based upon it (Rom. 
6:4-11). If. Christ was not raised from the 
dead, there is no forgiveness of sins, conse¬ 
quently no spiritual resurrection (1 Cor. 15: 

204 


SONSHIP 


17), but Christ is our resurrected Lord with 
power to quicken those dead in sins (Eph. 2: 
5). The gracious truth of spiritual life for 
every believer is a symmetrical arch resting 
upon a solid foundation, having two sides 
united with a key stone at the top. The base 
is the experience of regeneration; the right 
side of the arch is the believer in Christ (John 
15:4; Rom. 8:1; 1 Cor. 12:12; 2 Cor. 5:17; 
Eph. 5:30) ; the left side is Christ in the be¬ 
liever (Rom. 8:10; 2 Cor. 13:5; Gal. 2:20; 
Col. 1:27; 2:6; 1 John 5:12) ; the key stone 
uniting the whole is the power of the Holy 
Spirit (John 3:5; Rom. 8:2; Titus 3:5; John 
16:7-14). 

2. Spiritual likeness. God is light and in 
Him there is no darkness (1 John 1:5). His 
children are children of the light (1 Thess. 5: 
5; Eph. 5:8). Those who profess to be His 
children and walk in darkness are liars (1 John 
1:6). Jesus declared Himself to be the light 
of the world and His followers only have the 
light of life (John 8: 12). God is wholly 
righteous (John 17: 25). His children are 
cleansed from unrighteousness (1 John 1:9), 
and study to yield all their members as instru¬ 
ments pf righteousness (Rom. 6:12). God is 

205 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


holy (1 Pet. 1:15). His children do not com^ 
mit sin (1 John 3:9), and are called to holi¬ 
ness (1 Thess. 4:7; 1 Pet. 1:14,15). God is 
love (1 John 4:8). His children give proof of 
the new birth by loving God (1 John 4:7). 
They show their obedience to the truth by fer¬ 
vently loving each other with pure hearts (1 
Pet. 1:22). They fulfil the law of love in its 
highest reaches by loving their enemies (Matt. 
5:44), and by blessing their persecutors (Rom. 
12 :14). God is a God of peace (Heb. 13: 20). 
His children are so called because they are 
peacemakers (Matt. 5:9). God is a God of 
glory (Acts 7:2). His children have the spirit 
of glory and of God in reproaches (1 Pet. 4: 
14) ; are changed from glory to glory (2 Cor. 
3:18) ; and have a joy unspeakable and full 
of glory (1 Pet. 1:8). 

The Obligations of Sonship. 1. Obedience. 
One of the chief elements in the unique son- 
ship of Christ is His obedience. He came into 
the world saying He came to do the will of 
God (Heb. 10:5-7). He came from heaven to 
do the will of the Father who sent Him (John 
6:38), and in accomplishing that will became 
obedient unto death (Phil. 2:8). Angels main¬ 
tain their holy relations through obedience 

206 


SONSHIP 


(Psa. 103:20; Isa. 6:2; Matt. 6:10; 1 Pet. 3: 
22). The central principle of relationship of 
man to God in the Old Testament was obedi¬ 
ence (Gen. 12:1-4; Ex. 19:5; Psa. 103:17, 18; 
Isa. 1:19). The obligation upon God’s sons in 
the New Testament to be obedient is solemn 
and authoritative. Only the obedient shall en¬ 
ter the kingdom (Matt. 7 : 21). Love to Christ 
is proved by obedience (John 14:23). Perma¬ 
nence of experience is secured by obedience 
(John 15: 10). Perfection in love comes 
through obedience (1 John 2:5). Answered 
prayer is made possible through obedience (1 
John 3:22). The forfeited right to the tree of 
life is restored and entrance into the holy city 
is secured, through obedience (Rev. 22:14). 

2. Separation. In the light of the Bible 
teaching on the present world-system and its 
powerful head, the significance of the principle 
of separation assumes an importance and im¬ 
perativeness far too little recognized, es¬ 
pecially in these days of latitude in religious 
thought and teaching. This principle is inter¬ 
woven into the entire Old Testament dispensa¬ 
tion. Abel, Enoch, Noah and Abraham were 
called to live separated lives. Israel was a 
separated nation. This principle of separation 

207 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


was carried into the economic, social, political 
and religious life of the people. Coming to 
the New Testament, the teachings of Jesus and 
of the apostles are clear and positive. Jesus 
taught the impossibility of serving two mas¬ 
ters (Matt. 6: 24). He constantly warned 
against worldliness (Luke 8: 14; 12 : 16-21; 
16:19-31). To His disciples He stressed the 
fact that they were chosen out of the world 
(John 15: 19), and were not of the world 
(John 17:14-16). Paul taught separation from 
the world in spirit (Rom. 12:2) ; in dress (1 
Tim. 2:8-10) ; in desire (Col. 3:2) ; in spiri¬ 
tual warfare (2 Tim. 2:4); and from complic¬ 
ity with worldly men (2 Tim. 3:2-5). Peter 
taught separation from the world in its prac¬ 
tises (1 Pet. 1:14) ; in dress (1 Pet. 3:1-5) ; 
and in its pleasures (1 Pet. 4:3). James calls 
friendship with the world adultery and enmity 
against God (James 4:4). John declared that 
love for the world excludes the love of God, 
and that the essence of worldliness is the lust 
of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride 
of life, all of which is doomed to pass away 
(1 John 2:15-17), but the sons of God are the 
victorious conquerors of the world through 
faith (1 John 5:4). 


208 


SONSHIP 


The Hope of Sonship. At this mountain 
peak the converging lines of sonship truth cen¬ 
ter. The sons of God—regenerated, possessing 
spiritual life, bearing a spiritual likeness, obe¬ 
dient, separated—know there is to be a glori¬ 
ous consummation. The Perfect Man as King 
is to reunite the “shattered brotherhood.” It 
is not revealed, as yet, all that is to be realized 
in that crowning act (1 John 3:1-3). But in 
anticipation of that longed-for event (Rom. 8: 
19-24) the toiling, suffering, waiting sons of 
God purify themselves in readiness for that 
hour. It is not a cunningly devised fable (2 
Pet. 1:16). It is their blessed hope (Titus 
2:13). 


SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

Wliat exalted relation may be sustained by men to 
God through grace? How is this realized? In what 
sense is God the Father of all? In what sense are 
all men sons of God? What is included in being a 
spiritual son of God? Contrast the two classes of 
men as recognized in the New Testament. Discuss 
the marks of spiritual sonship. Name and discuss 
the first obligation of spiritual sonship. The second. 
What is the hope of sonship? How does this hope 
influence your life? 


209 


God's ideal for His church is that loth as individ¬ 
uals and as a whole it he without spot or wrinkle or 
any such thing, a pure bride fit for the spotless 
Lamb, and therefore strong enough to cope with any 
evil. As a church we have been taught from the be¬ 
ginning that believers have power to become the sons 
of God, be made partakers of the divine nature. We 
have insisted on the glorious privilege and duty of 
all men becoming saints, of immediately being made 
perfect in love, and of gradually ripening into Chris¬ 
tian maturity in all faculties. This doctrine icas 
never more definitely stated, clearly perceived, nor 
consistently lived by greater numbers than note. But 
hoic lamentably the church falls short of the divine 
possibility. God is always able to do for us exceed¬ 
ingly abundantly above all that we ask or even 
think. The reason of our impotence is not in God, 
but in ourselves. God teaches us that we should pre¬ 
sent our souls and bodies a live sacrifice, every fac¬ 
ulty, power and, possession devoted to His service... 
How few consecrate their all! God waits through 
centuries to show what He can do with perfectly 
and completely consecrated men. And the whole cre¬ 
ation also waiteth for the apocalypse of a full-grown 
son of God.—From the Bishop's Address to M. E. 
General Conference, 1896. 


210 


CHAPTER VII 


SPIRITUAL MANHOOD 

The Objective. God’s children are divided 
into clearly defined classes. There are babes 
in Christ (1 Cor. 3:1,2). In Galatians, Paul 
clearly distinguishes between childhood and 
manhood; between a minor and an adult (Gal. 
3:25-4:31). The child heir is the same as a 
servant as far as his education is concerned as 
each is under the tutelage of a pedagogue. But 
when the child becomes a man, the minor an 
adult, he does voluntarily and by choice what 
formerly he did in fear of the teacher. Spiri¬ 
tual childhood is a period marked more or less 
by bondage, legal or worldly, but sonship is 
marked by loving fellowship with the Father 
and the enjoyment of the privileges of heir¬ 
ship. To lose this exalted relationship by turn¬ 
ing to the “weak and beggarly rudiments” is 
to go back into the primary grade in religious 
experience, and necessitates the renewal of 
birth pangs to restore to the standing of sons 
(Gal. 4:19). Spiritual infancy is marked by 

211 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


dullness of hearing (Heb. 5:11); restricted 
comprehension (Heb. 5:12) ; limited digestion 
(Heb. 5:12) ; spiritual awkwardness (Heb. 5: 
13); all of which is defined as babyhood (Heb. 
5:13; 1 Pet. 2:2). 

Again, there is a class of believers desig¬ 
nated as weak in the faith (Rom. 14:1) ; the 
weak brother (1 Cor. 8:11) ; weak and sickly 
(1 Cor. 11: 30); unruly, feeble-minded and 
weak (1 Thess. 5:14) ; and those having limp 
hands and feeble knees (Heb. 12:12). Refer¬ 
ence to the context in each of the foregoing 
proves that these expressions are used to de¬ 
scribe symptoms of spiritual weakness. 

Still again, there is a class of believers who 
are restricted in the normal functioning of the 
spiritual life, and, at times, suffer humiliating 
defeats, because of the presence of two natures. 
They have the renewed nature bestowed upon 
them in regeneration (1 John 1:12,13; 2 Cor. 
5: 17), yet still retain the Adamic nature 
(Rom. 8:1-4; 13:14; 1 Cor. 3:1-4; Heb. 3: 
12). Undoubtedly much of the infantile •weak¬ 
ness of the first two classes mentioned is caused 
by this double life. 

Finally, there is the man according to God’s 
program. Paul, with his unparalleled insight 

212 


SPIRITUAL MANHOOD 


into spiritual truth, unfolds the standard of 
grace through the gift of Christ when He 
“gave some to be apostles; and some, proph¬ 
ets; and some, pastors and teachers; for the 
perfecting of the saints, unto the work of min¬ 
istering, unto the building up of the body of 
Christ: till we all attain unto the unity of the 
faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, 
unto a fullgrown man, unto the measure of the 
stature of the fulness of Christ: that we may 
be no longer children ” (Eph. 4:11-14). 

Conditions of Life. Physical life is condi¬ 
tioned upon proper elements. Heredity, en¬ 
vironment and food have much to do with its 
perfection. Spiritual life has its specific ele¬ 
ment. This element is the Holy Spirit. Dr. 
A. T. Pierson explains it tersely and clearly as 
follows: “What do we mean by an element? 
It is that in which we live, and move, and have 
our being. It is the only thing of which it can 
be said we are in it while at the same time it is 
in us. ‘Ye are in the Spirit, if so be that the 
Spirit is in you. ’ ‘ Abide in me, and I in you.* 
Here is language appropriate only to an ele¬ 
ment. The Holy Spirit is the personal element 
in which the believer as such is to live and 
move and have his being. 

213 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


“There are certain peculiarities about an 
element. For instance, it is infinite. It is 
boundless, like an atmosphere. It is indispen¬ 
sable to that which lives in it, yet it is inde¬ 
pendent of that which it sustains. It is inex¬ 
haustible. It is vital. And it has this remark¬ 
able peculiarity, that it imparts to that which 
lives in it all that there is in itself, and yet re¬ 
tains all that there is in itself for every other 
being that lives in it. When we inhale the at¬ 
mosphere, we inhale everything that the atmos- 
sphere has for the support of life, and yet, all 
this sustaining power is equally at the disposal 
of all others who breathe it, and all get the 
same benefit.” Therefore, “If we live by the 
Spirit, by the Spirit let us also walk” (Gal. 
5:25). 

The Consciousness of God. Is it possible 
for man to realize the presence of God? 
Dr. R. W. Weaver in his illuminating work, 
The Religious Development of the Child, says: 
“We have uncovered buried cities, we have 
translated thousands of tablets, we have 
searched the world over for ancient manu¬ 
scripts, when the strongest proof of the truth¬ 
fulness of our evangelical doctrines lies buried 
deep in the experience of every man, known to 

214 


SPIRITUAL MANHOOD 


him no more than the nervous system which 
makes possible his contact with the outer 
world. ’ ’ 

If so eminent an authority as John Stuart 
Mill can affirm that “whatever is known by 
consciousness is known beyond the possibility 
of question/ * then it is perfectly safe to em¬ 
phasize the plain teaching of Scripture on the 
fact of the consciousness of God. Out of the 
many Old Testament characters the following 
are examples of men who experienced the con¬ 
sciousness of God: Enoch (Gen. 5: 22 with 
Heb. 11:5); Noah (Gen. 6:9 with Heb. 11: 
7) ; Abraham (Gen. 17:1-22); Moses (Ex. 33: 
11) ; Isaiah (Isa. 6:1-5) ; Ezekiel (Ezek. 2:2) 
and Daniel (Dan. 7:13,14). 

In the New Testament this fact of the con¬ 
sciousness of God is the very climax of truth. 
“If a man love me, he will keep my words: 
and my Father will love him, and we will come 
unto him, and make our abode with him’ 7 
(John 14: 23). “But we received, not the 
spirit of the world, but the spirit which is from 
God; that we might know the things that are 
freely given to us of God” (1 Cor. 2: 12). 
‘ ‘ Know ye not that ye are a temple of God, and 
that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you” (1 

215 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


Cor. 3:16). “In whom ye also are bnilded to¬ 
gether for an habitation of God in the Spirit’’ 
(Eph. 2: 22). “Christ in you, the hope of 
glory ’ ’ (Col. 1:27). “ Whosoever shall con¬ 

fess that Jesus is the Son of God, God abideth 
in him and he in God” (1 John 4:15). 

Paul was absolutely within the bounds of 
psychological truth as well as in harmony with 
Scriptural fact when he testified: “ I have been 
crucified with Christ: and it is no longer I that 
live, but Christ liveth in me: and that life 
which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the 
faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, 
and gave himself up for me” (Gal. 2: 20). 

Spiritual Eugenics. Eugenics is the science 
relating to the development and improvement 
of the race. It demands that children have a 
right to be well-born and that parents should 
be instructed in the laws of child development 
so that there will be normal growth physically 
and mentally. The state is making laws to de¬ 
velop and conserve the best types of physical 
manhood and womanhood. There are laws of 
spiritual eugenics. God has made abundant 
provision for removing disabilities, for the 
practise of spiritual surgery and for furnish¬ 
ing specific diet sheets for convalescents and 

216 


SPIRITUAL MANHOOD 


maintaining normal health. Idealistically, 
there should be no spiritual cripples, moral 
dwarfs, anemic souls or effeminate weaklings 
in God’s family. Practically and unfortu¬ 
nately, each is represented. 

After making all due allowance for physical 
weakness, mental disturbances and defective 
teaching, the outstanding cause for this painful 
situation is—wilful or inherited sin. Sin is 
moral weakness. It paralyzes the spiritual 
members. It is the most powerful anesthesia 
known to the spiritual world. 

It is clearly taught in the Bible and cor¬ 
roborated by universal experience, that inher¬ 
ited sin, the Adamic nature, the “old man,” 
the tendency to mind the things of the flesh, 
the evil heart of unbelief, the trend to carnal 
propensities, the filthiness of the spirit, re¬ 
mains in the believer after his conversion. This 
fact will be conceded. The question is, is it a 
permanent and incurable weakness or is there 
a state of moral and spiritual health for God’s 
sons in which they are to come to adult life in 
strength and vigor? 

There is such a state. Jesus came to “de¬ 
stroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8), 
and to “save to the uttermost them that draw 

217 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


near unto God through him” (Heb. 7: 25). 
Inherited sin is spoken of as a taint of corrup¬ 
tion in man. As such, it is not to be restrained 
with moral dikes, but is to be purged (John 
15:2; Psa. 51:7; Isa. 6:7; Mai. 3:3; 1 Cor. 
5:7; Heb. 9:14). It is spoken of as “our old 
man.” As such it is not to be refined, disci¬ 
plined or suppressed, but is to be put to death 
in order to destroy the principle of sin (Rom. 
6:6); is to be put off completely and perma¬ 
nently in order to receive the new man created 
in holiness (Eph. 4:22-24) ; and is to be put 
off with all its traits and manifestations in or¬ 
der to make room for the uninterrupted abode 
of the renewed man, the image of Christ (Col. 
3: 9,10). It is spoken of as filthiness of the 
spirit. As such it is not to be covered over by 
the spotless mantle of Christ’s righteousness, 
but is to be removed by a divine process of 
cleansing and making holy (Eph. 5:25-27; 1 
Thess. 5:23, 24; 2 Thess. 2:13; Titus 2:14; 
Heb. 10:18-22; 1 Pet. 1:14-16). Such is God’s 
provision for spiritual eugenics. His children 
are not to be hampered by constitutional weak¬ 
nesses of a moral quality, however they may be 
embarrassed by physical weaknesses, restricted 
by mental limitations or beset by their satanic 

218 


SPIRITUAL MANHOOD 


foe from without. Delivered from the handi¬ 
cap of sin, they attain to spiritual manhood. 

The Spirit-Filled Life. It is said that an 
African chief, a heathen, after hearing Bishop 
Taylor, went away, saying, “He is God’s man, 
sure.” The experience of Mr. Finney in the 
New England cotton mill when his presence 
caused conviction to seize the operators until 
the factory was shut down in order to give 
time for prayer is a matter of history. The 
success in soul winning of the African boy, 
Sammy Morris; of D. L. Moody, of Gipsy 
Smith, and a host of others, demonstrate that 
there is a life of spiritual power for God’s sons. 
It is what Jesus meant when He promised: 
“But ye shall receive power, when the Holy 
Spirit is come upon you” (Acts 1:8). 

The reception of this purifying and power- 
imparting baptism insures for the son of God 
a life of victory and fulness of satisfaction. 
Living and walking in the Spirit (Gal. 5:25) 
he is comforted (John 14:16; Acts 9:31) ; di¬ 
vinely instructed (John 15:26; 1 Cor. 2:12) ; 
attains the measure of one of God’s men (Acts 
6:5); enjoys fulness of liberty (Rom. 8:1-4) ; 
is supernaturally aided in intercession (Rom. 
8:26,27); experiences the spiritual features 

219 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


of the kingdom (Rom. 14:17) ; revels in the 
fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22) ; and lives the 
triumphant life of power (Eph. 3:16; 1 Thess. 
1:5; 2 Tim. 1:7). 

Spiritual Manhood. The first Adam was 
created a kingly man and given a dominion 
(Gen. 1:26). The second Adam was born a 
King (Matt. 2:2); died a King (Luke 23: 
38) ; and is coming back to earth to reign as a 
King (Matt. 25:31). The natural man is a 
slave of sin and Satan (Acts 26:18; John 8: 
34; Rom. 6:16; 1 Tim. 3:7; 2 Tim. 2:26). 
The spiritual man as a reborn son of God be¬ 
comes an heir of God (Rom. 8:17), and is con¬ 
stituted a king-priest (1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 1:6). 
As the divine Son was led into the arena of 
temptation to prove His strength and right as 
the divine King-Priest of the race, thereby 
securing His right to be the Head of the re¬ 
deemed race to be (Heb. 2:10), so God’s earth 
sons are called to endure temptation, to be put 
to grief in order to be “ found unto praise and 
glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus 
Christ” (1 Pet. 1:6-9). 

The call is to discipleship, but more. The 
call is to bear the yoke, but more. The call is 
to obtain rest, but more. It is a bugle call to 

220 


SPIRITUAL MANHOOD 


arms. It is a challenge to conflict. It is the 
“fiery cross” which summons to battle. It is 
the hour of the testing and proving of kings. 
God’s sons are not to be side-stepping weak¬ 
lings, but regnant spirits wielding the kingly 
sceptre of self-control in the front of every 
surging wave of passion and degrading desire, 
saying, ‘ ‘ Thus far shalt thou come and no far¬ 
ther.” In the furnace heat of test and trial 
and sorrow they become fused into that spiri¬ 
tual metal out of which God’s heroes are made. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

What is meant by spiritual infancy in the Bible? 
Describe the different classes so named. What Is 
the objective in The Divine Program? Compare the 
conditions of physical and spiritual life. Prove the 
possibility of man’s consciousness of God. What pro¬ 
vision has God made for the attainment of spiritual 
manhood? What is the Spirit-filled life? What is 
your goal in living a Christian life? 


221 


This mighty life of God in the soul does not work 
as a blind force, compelling us ignorantly or invol¬ 
untarily to act like Christ. On the contrary, the 
walking like Him must come as the result of a de¬ 
liberate choice, sought in strong desire, accepted of 
a living will. With this view, the Father in heaven 
showed us in Jesus's earthly life what the life of 
heaven would be when it came down into the condi¬ 
tions and circumstances of our human life. And 
with the same object the Lord Jesus, when we re¬ 
ceive the new life from Him, and when He calls us 
to abide in Him that we may receive that life more- 
abundantly, ever points us to His own life on earth, 
and tells us that it is to walk even as He walked 
that the new life has been bestowed. “Even as I, so 
ye alsothat word of the Master takes His whole 
earthly life, and very simply makes it the rule and 
guide of all our conduct. If we abide in Jesus, we 
may not act otherwise than He did. “Like Christ ” 
gives in one short all-inclusive word the blessed law 
of the Christian's life. He is to think, to speak, to 
act as Jesus did; as Jesus was, even so is he to be. 
— Rev. Andrew Murray . 


222 


CHAPTER VIII 


FEEDING THE SPIRITUAL LIFE 

The Measure of a Man. The Pauline classi¬ 
fication of a man into spirit and soul and body 
is the basis upon which rests all true ideals for 
the development of the race. Inverting the or¬ 
der, we have body—sense-consciousness; soul— 
self-consciousness; and spirit—God-conscious¬ 
ness. In ordinary language, however, man is 
said to be made up of body and soul. By the 
word “sour’ are understood both his mental 
and moral faculties. So considered, Immanuel 
Kant’s classification of the moral nature of 
man into intellect, sensibilities and will has 
never been improved upon. Intellect includes 
the perceptive, reflective and intuitive facul¬ 
ties of the mind. Sensibilities start with the 
natural senses and rise through the affections, 
desires and conscience to spiritual conscious¬ 
ness. The will is the center of self-conscious 

* 

activity. Self-consciousness is the foundation 
of all responsible life. It is the knowledge we 
attain when we say “I.” It involves three 

223 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


things; knowledge of ‘‘myself,” of something 
not “myself,” and relationship between what 
is “myself” and what is not. 

Spiritual Biology. There are laws of physi¬ 
cal life. These have been studied and verified 
until men can conserve physical life, if they 
will. There are laws of mental life. These 
have been studied until enough of them have 
been verified to constitute the science of edu¬ 
cation. There are laws of spiritual life. These 
are as accessible and scientific in their applica¬ 
tion as either of the others. The fundamental 
law is there can be no life without antecedent 
life. But granting the possibility of the con¬ 
sciousness of God, there follows as a necessary 
sequence the tremendous truth that man must 
feed and nourish and develop his spiritual life 
after it is received, just as positively as he 
feeds and nourishes and develops his physical 
and intellectual life. That “Man shall not live 
by bread alone, but by every word that pro¬ 
ceeded out of the mouth of God” (Matt. 4: 4) 
is the inexorable law of spiritual biology. 

Feeding the Spiritual Life. A tree can not 
live upon water alone. A beast can not live 
upon dry food alone. A man can not live 
upon bread alone. Neglecting to feed any de- 

224 


FEEDING THE SPIRITUAL LIFE 


partment of the human being—body, mind or 
spirit—results in death. This law is just as re¬ 
lentless in the spiritual world as in the physi¬ 
cal or mental. Neglect the spiritual faculties 
of faith and love and prayer and they die. 

Perishing Food. The man who lives by 
bread alone has nothing when the bread is 
gone. ‘ 1 Is not the life more than the food, and 
the body than the raiment” (Matt. 6:25)? 
Jesus said: “Work not for the food which per- 
isheth, but for the food which abideth unto 
eternal life, which the Son of man shall give 
unto you” (John 6:27). Alexander labored 
to gratify his ambition and died a slave to his 
own lusts. Caesar labored to make the Roman 
eagle a terror to all nations and was murdered 
by his own friends. Cardinal Wolsey on his 
death-bed said: “Had I but served God as 
faithfully as I served my king, he would not 
have given me over in my gray hairs.” It is 
said that the notorious Duke D’Alva starved 
his prisoners to death after promising them 
quarter, saying, ‘ ‘ Though I promised your 
lives, I did not promise to find you meat.” 

Enduring Food. “Jesus saith unto them, I 
am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall 
not hunger, and he that believeth on me shall 

225 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


never thirst” (John 6: 35). Men are con¬ 
stantly trying to separate the religion of Jesus 
from Jesus Himself. But there is no spiritual 
life apart from Christ. He did not say, “I 
have the bread of life,” but, “I am the bread 
of life.” It is not something He left behind 
in His principles; it is not a well-arranged 
theology; it is not that He is to be resolved in¬ 
to an idea and an abstraction; but He is the 
‘ ‘ I Am. ’ r Just as the manna came down from 
heaven and was the means of sustaining phy¬ 
sical life, so Christ is “the living bread which 
came down out of heaven: if any man eat of 
this bread, he shall live for ever: yea and the 
bread which I will give is my flesh, for the life 
of the world” (John 6:51). The manna was 
prepared by being ground and baked with fire 
(Ex. 16: 36). So Christ had to endure the fiery 
baptism of death and sorrow to give us life. 
All the manna was to be eaten (Ex. 16:19). 
We must receive the complete Christ. We must 
accept Him as the God-man; our Prophet, 
Priest and King; in His obedient life, His sac¬ 
rificial death, His resurrection power, and in 
His heavenly glory. 

The Living Word. “When God says that 
man shall live by His Word, He means by 

226 


FEEDING THE SPIRITUAL LIFE 


‘life’ far more than the little span of human 
years, with their eating, and drinking, and 
pleasure, and gain-getting. To live by the 
Word of God is to share the eternal life of God. 
Human life is nothing if it does not fore¬ 
shadow the larger life of eternity; and when 
the lower physical life fails for lack of bread, 
the man does not cease to live: he only begins 
to live, and to prove that if man can not live 
by bread alone, he can live by God alone. ’ ’ The 
Word of God can be tasted (Heb. 6:5); it 
gives life (John 6: 63) ; it produces faith 
(Rom. 10:17) ; it inspires hope (Rom. 15:4); 
it imparts a delicious heart sensation (Luke 
24:32); it has a purifying efficacy (John 15: 
3; Eph. 5:26) ; it enriches with wisdom (Col. 
3:16) ; and it furnishes a complete equipment 
for life (2 Tim. 3:15-17). 

The Throne of Grace. If God is the Father 
of regenerated men, who, by virtue of that ex¬ 
perience, are constituted sons, what more rea¬ 
sonable or sensible thing than for them to 
pray! Any child that never had a petition 
to present to his father or mother would be un¬ 
natural to the last degree. And any parent 
that was never known to grant a petition to 
one of his own children would be unworthy 

227 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


the name of a parent. Hence, it is natural to 
pray; it is scientific to pray; it is Scriptural 
to pray. “Let us therefore draw near with 
boldness unto the throne of grace, that we may 
receive mercy, and find grace to help us in 
time of need” (Heb. 4:16). 

The Prayer of Communion. A minister was 
very busily engaged in his study when his lit¬ 
tle three-year-old child softly opened the door 
and came in. He was disturbed and rather 
sharply asked, “My child, what do you want?” 
“Nothing, papa.” “Then what did you come 
in here for?” “Just because I wanted to be 
with you,” was the reply. To this child, just 
to be in the room with father, just to be where 
he could be seen, not a word being spoken, was 
an experience perfectly satisfying. It ex¬ 
pressed a longing that was met by being with 
him. So with a Christian. Prayer is not al¬ 
ways petition, thanksgiving, confession, or 
even adoration, but often an unuttered and un¬ 
utterable communion. Communion is fellow¬ 
ship with God. It is the essential breath of the 
Christian life. It is the basis of all prayer. 
It is what Jesus had in mind when He said: 
“He that hath my commandments, and keep- 
eth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that 

228 


FEEDING THE SPIRITUAL LIFE 


loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I 
will love him, and will manifest myself unto 
him” (John 14:21). 

The Prayer of Petition. Prayer is the ex¬ 
pression of dependence. There is nothing so 
destructive of spirituality as the self-con¬ 
tained, self-satisfied spirit (Rev. 3: 14-18). 
The Pharisee’s prayer of thirty-four words 
mentions the name of God once and has the 
personal pronoun “I” five times, consequently 
it was unheard in heaven. Everything we need 
comes from God. The prayer of petition is 
called an asking, a seeking and a knocking 
(Matt. 7:7). It should be offered for temporal 
blessings (Matt. 6:11). It should be offered 
for spiritual blessings (Matt. 6:33). It be¬ 
comes acceptable through Christ (John 14:13, 
14; 15:16; 16 : 23, 24). It must be offered sub¬ 
ject to God’s will (1 John 5:14). 

The Prayer of Intercession. As already 
stated, the sons of God are constituted king- 
priests. Up to the time of the giving of the 
law, the head of each family was constituted a 
priest. With the giving of the law the priest¬ 
hood was shut up to the tribe of Levi. Under 
the gospel all believers are constituted a king¬ 
dom of priests having access to God, offering 

229 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by 
Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 2:5). But in God's plan 
the most vital relation of this king-priestly 
office is that of intercession. S. D. Gordon em¬ 
phasizes the fact that there is but one inlet of 
power in any life—the Holy Spirit; but there 
are five outlets of power—through the life, 
through the lips, through service, through 
money, and through prayer, and that by all 
odds the greatest of these is prayer. 

Intercessory prayer is the switchboard by 
which personality is projected and divine 
power released wherever it is needed. Abra¬ 
ham’s servant prays and Rebekah appears 
(Gen. 24:12-28). Jacob prevails in prayer, 
the angel is conquered, his own nature and 
name are changed, while Esau’s revenge is 
changed to fraternal love (Gen. 32: 24-32). 
Moses prays and God has mercy on Israel (Ex. 
32:30-34). Joshua prays and Achan is dis¬ 
covered (Josh. 7:6-22). Elijah prays and a 
three and one-half years’ drought is broken (1 
Kings 18:45). Asa prays and a mighty Ethi¬ 
opian army is overwhelmingly routed (2 
Chron. 14:11-15). Daniel prays and angels 
are sent to hold lions’ jaws (Dan. 6:19-22). 
The Jerusalem church prays and an angel un- 

230 


FEEDING THE SPIRITUAL LIFE 


locks prison doors and leads Peter out past 
two Roman soldiers (Acts 12: 5-19). Paul 
and Silas pray and an earthquake swings open 
prison doors and a jailer and his entire family 
are converted (Acts 16:25-40). John Knox 
prays and Scotland trembles. George Muller 
prays and hundreds of orphan children are 
fed and clothed. God answers prayer. Prayer 
changes things, for through prayer God and 
man join hands to accomplish the divine pur¬ 
pose. 


SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

What is the Pauline classification of man? De¬ 
fine self-consciousness. How may a harmonious life 
be attained? What is meant by spiritual biology? 
Why and how must the spiritual life be fed? What 
does the “Living Word” do for the soul? Why is 
it necessary to pray? What is prayer? What three 
forms of prayer are discussed? Which one is the 
most important? Why? What relation does this 
entire chapter have to the nurture of the spiritual 
life? What place does prayer have in your life? 


231 


What is religion? It can not he explained any 
more than can electricity. But like electricity we 
know it is all powerful and men have discovered 
ways of getting it in limited quantities. Christian 
religion is the acceptance of God as one's master 
and source of strength as revealed through Jesus. 
This strength is secured through prayer. Re¬ 
ligion expresses itself through those fundamentals 
of prosperity—a desire to he honest, just, kindly, 
pure, thrifty, industrious and to render true service. 
A religious man • will worship God and knowingly 
harm no one; he tvill do unto others as he would 
have others treat him. When people become actu¬ 
ated with these desires, it is very evident that all 
the»social, industrial and international problems will 
quickly solve themselves. Preachers are troubled 
because they can not arouse more interest in relig¬ 
ion amongst the business men of their cities. Is not 
the reason because these preachers are talking about 
social service, prohibition, international peace and 
the like, instead of winning souls. As a statistician 
it seems to me that the preacher's job is to “win 
souls ” as they call it—to put religion into the hearts 
of men, and women. Preachers * who have in mind 
this one motive and ivho operate evangelistic 
churches have no complaint about the business men 
of their cities. Every sermon should be directed to 
change men's hearts. Should not preachers be judged 
by their ability to win men to God?—Roger TF. Bat¬ 
son. 


oqo 


CHAPTER IX 


CHRISTIAN ETHICS 

Christianity and the Body. Human life is 
the gift of God. This life is housed in the body. 
Normally, the entire body lives. The brain 
lives, the nerves live, the blood lives, the mus¬ 
cles and membranes live; even the bones are 
alive. Through all vibrates the soul. To kill 
the body is to set the soul adrift on the mighty 
currents of eternity. In the case of Christians, 
the body is God’s dwelling place (1 Cor. 6: 
19). Through redemption the body belongs to 
God (1 Cor. 6:20). Using the members of the 
body in unholy service is sin (Rom. 6:13). The 
body is to be controlled (1 Cor. 9:27). It is 
to be presented to God as a living, holy, accept¬ 
able, spiritual service (Rom. 12:1). 

Pagan philosophers have ever looked upon 
the body as a barrier to the spirit. But Jesus 
Christ lived in a human body and left the 
world a model of how soul can dominate the 
flesh and attain to sainthood without living a 
life of penance or resorting to self-inflicted tor- 

233 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


ture. The sons of God are, through grace, 
regnant in their mastery over the physical ap¬ 
petites and passions. Paul kept his body un¬ 
der and declared, as a scholar says is the literal 
translation, “I smite it under the eyes, I beat 
it black and blue” (1 Cor. 9:27). This was 
not said in any pagan sense of penance, but 
was the great apostle’s sweeping expression of 
his complete mastery over the appetites and 
propensities of the flesh. No Christian should 
think for a moment of defiling his body with 
tobacco or opiates of any kind. It is where the 
Bible has been an open book that men are fight¬ 
ing tuberculosis, malaria, yellow fever, small¬ 
pox, cancer, hookworm, typhoid and every pre¬ 
ventable disease. And it is in a land where 
that Book has been shining upon conscience 
that statutory prohibition was made possible 
and forces and agencies are being mobilized to 
wage a relentless war upon tobacco, especially 
the cigaret. “Hygiene tells us only how to 
preserve health. But it can not tell us why to 
preserve it, nor where to spend it. Christian¬ 
ity is a guide and a reason as well as a motive. ’ 9 
Christianity and Personal Decorations. John 
Ruskin said: ‘ ‘ Fine art has but three functions, 
enforcing religious sentiment, perfecting the 

234 


CHRISTIAN ETHICS 


ethical state, doing them material service.’ , 
Commenting on this an eminent authority says, 
“From this standpoint of art, what is the 
moral or religious significance of jewelry, cost¬ 
ly raiment, feathers, artificial flowers and fur¬ 
belows, as demanded by the ever-changing 
fashions of the day ? Is it not a perverting of 
decoration ? Do not these things become them¬ 
selves the object of attraction from real beauty 
—the soul, thereby directly opposing the real 
aim of decoration? For whatever trammels or 
obscures the moral-spiritual beauty of the soul 
is itself a violation of the law of decoration.” 

Prof. George P. Fisher in his Theistic and 
Christian Belief says, “The substitution of an 
inferior good for the highest good.... is the 
root of immorality. ” It is upon this high plane 
of Christian morals that the whole subject is 
placed by Peter: “As children of obedience, 
not fashioning yourselves according to your 
former lusts in the time of your ignorance: 
but like as he who called you is holy, be your¬ 
selves holy in all manner of living ” (1 Pet. 1: 
14,15). It is wrong for a Christian to adorn 
himself in the worldly styles of dress for the 
following reasons: Much of it is immodest and 
immodesty in dress is forbidden (1 Tim. 2:9); 

235 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


it is an expression of pride which is hateful to 
God (Prov. 8:13); it belongs to a class of peo¬ 
ple who live a social life which is alien to God 
and His people (1 Pet. 4:1-5) ; it is expressly 
forbidden (1 Pet. 3:3, 4; Kom. 12:2) ; it is in¬ 
consistent with the keen cutting law of Chris¬ 
tian ethics (1 Cor. 10:31). 

Christianity and the Labor Problem. Prop¬ 
erly defined, properly interpreted and prop¬ 
erly applied, there is such a thing as Christian 
socialism. Jesus was a laboring man. Giovan¬ 
ni Papini, the converted Italian atheist, in his 
Story of Christ, says: “Often while the thin, 
light shavings curled up under the steel of His 
plane and the sawdust rained down on the 
ground, Jesus must have thought of the prom¬ 
ise of the Father, of the prophecies of old time, 
and of what He was to create, not with boards 
and rules, but with spirit and truth. His trade 
taught Him that to live means to transform 
dead and useless things into living and useful 
things; that the meanest material fashioned 
and shaped can become precious, friendly, use¬ 
ful to men; that to save, in short, it is needful 
to transform; and that just as a child’s crib or 
a wife’s bed can be made out of a log of olive- 
wood, gnarled and knotty, and earthly, so the 

236 


CHRISTIAN ETHICS 


filthy money-changer and the wretched prosti¬ 
tute can be transformed into true citizens of 
the kingdom of heaven/’ 

Work itself is not only a necessity; it is a 
blessing. The problems connected with labor 
do not rest upon the fact that men have to 
work, but upon selfish and sordid views of 
work, and upon the complex character of mod¬ 
ern social and economic life. Roger W. Bab- 
son says: ‘ ‘ The solving of the labor situation 
is wholly a question of religion. The wage 
worker will never be satisfied with higher 
wages or shorter hours, any more than you and 
I are satisfied with more profits and a bigger 
house. Things never did satisfy any one and 
never will. Satisfaction and contentment are 
matters of religion. Communities and indus¬ 
tries where right motives are paramount have 
no serious labor problems. When both em¬ 
ployer and wage earner honestly believe that 
we are here in this world to serve others, the 
labor problem will be solved—but not till 
then. ’ ’ 

True Christian socialism begins with the con¬ 
version of the individual as the unit of the so¬ 
ciety, but society should be protected by such 
wise and proper laws and restrictions that the 

237 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


individual would have the largest possible 
measure of freedom in choosing to live so¬ 
berly, righteously and godly in this present 
world. Factories and shops in Cincinnati, 
Ohio; Elgin, Illinois; Evansville, Wisconsin, 
and Detroit, Michigan, which have adopted in 
whole or in part the principle of the Golden 
Rule prove that the example and teachings of 
Jesus are sound and practical. The socialism 
of Paul as enunciated in the statement, “If 
any man would not work, neither should he 
eat,” is still a wholesome doctrine, needing 
only the following interpretation to fit modern 
conditions, “If a man will not let another 
work, that man shall not eat.” 

Christianity and Secrecy. The fundamental 
principle upon which the government of the 
United States rests is expressed in that part of 
the Declaration of Independence which says: 
“We hold these truths to be self-evident; 
that all men are created equal, that they are 
endowed by their Creator with certain inalien¬ 
able rights, that among these are life, liberty 
and the pursuit of happiness, that to secure 
these rights, governments are instituted among 
men, deriving their just powers from the con¬ 
sent of the governed.” In his farewell ad- 

238 


CHRISTIAN ETHICS 


dress George Washington said: “The very 
idea of the power of the people to establish 
government presupposes the duty of every in¬ 
dividual to obey the established government . 9 9 

This basic principle of law by the consent of 
the governed is denied by the principle of se¬ 
crecy. A few years ago Webb’s Masonic Mon¬ 
itor said: “Of all the wretched theories into 
which some of the most learned in the econ¬ 
omy of Masonic government have been misled 
none probably has been more pernicious in 
their results than the assumption which places 
the original and sole authority of Masonic gov¬ 
ernment in the consent of the governed.... 
The first duty of the reader of this synopsis is 
to obey the edicts of his grand lodge. Right or 
wrong, his very existence as a Mason hangs 
upon his obedience to the powers immediately 
set above him.” 

Modern unionism defies the same principle. 
The closed shop policy is inconsistent with the 
fundamental principles of humanity and of 
our system of government. The Union Trades 
Department of the American Federation of 
Labor issued a statement prior to the holidays 
of 1922 that labor unionists should see that 
Christmas gifts bear the union label, that 

239 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


stores employ only union clerks and drivers; 
that churches engaging special orchestras for 
Christmas services hire only union musicians; 
and that holiday season entertainments em¬ 
ploy union waiters who serve union bread, 
cake, meat and soft drinks. The recent reve¬ 
lations of the persecutions, whippings and 
murders charged against the Ku-Klux Klan 
simply adds to the evidence of the danger of 
any form of organized secrecy which operates 
in defiance of the principle of good govern¬ 
ment. 

Making a solemn pledge beforehand to keep 
secret that which is unknown to the candi¬ 
date, or taking an oath, is forbidden (Lev. 5: 
4; Matt. 5: 33-37). The principle of true union¬ 
ism is Christian solidarity based upon union 
with Jesus Christ. Applied Christianity makes 
one body in Christ (Rom. 12:5), and its ex¬ 
pression is based on unselfishness. The essence 
of the teachings of Jesus is being servant to all 
(Mark 19:44). It obligates us, not by sworn 
pledges, but by the law of “ otheristic ’ ’ inter¬ 
est to “honor all men” (1 Pet. 2:17) and be 
true to one’s neighbor (Eph. 4:25). 

A Christian can not consistently sustain 
membership in secret and fraternal organiza- 

240 


CHRISTIAN ETHICS 


tions for the following reasons: The money 
spent in uniforms, regalia and diversions is a 
sinful extravagance; the element of secrecy is 
un-American and un-Christian; the so-called 
benevolence is not Christian beneficence; the 
majority of those belonging are godless, and 
oftentimes wicked in the extreme, complicity 
with whom is positively forbidden (2 Cor. 6: 
14-18; Eph. 5:11); many of these organiza¬ 
tions profess to be religious to the extent that 
consistent membership is sufficient for salva¬ 
tion, which is positively denied by the word of 
'-God (Acts 4:11,12). 

Christianity and the Social Life. The true 
Christian is not an ascetic. He does not have 
to be. He has found the perfect complement 
to his triune nature when he loves God with all 
his mind and soul and heart. Man is over¬ 
built for anything less than complete fellow¬ 
ship with the divine. Hence, when compan¬ 
ionship with God becomes a fact, it becomes a 
satisfying joy which, by the sheer power of 
its own completeness, eclipses all minor and in¬ 
significant appeals. A Christian does not seek 
worldly amusements, for the simple reason that 
he does not want them. He is not morbid, nor 
misanthropic, but spiritually normal and nat- 

241 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


ural. When he is swimming in an ocean why 
should he go back to paddling in a swamp? 
When he is riding among the stars why should 
he descend to crawling in the dust? “Will a 
Courser of the Sun work softly in the harness 
of a Dray-horse V ’ 

Jesus did not avoid or evade any of the 
legitimate social relations of life. He was very 
plain and outspoken on questions of marriage, 
divorce, and the social evil. He taught plainly 
and positively on the subject of wealth and its 
responsibility. By precept and by example He 
taught concerning the attitude of society and 
the individual toward the unfortunate, depen¬ 
dent and needy. He emphasized the importance 
and sanctity of the Sabbath. He denounced 
civil and religious profiteering, usurpation of 
power and injustice and partiality in adminis¬ 
tration. He taught the proper conduct to ob¬ 
serve toward civil officials, and obedience to 
civil and political requirements. He accepted 
invitations to dinners and a limited number of 
social functions. But through all He was ever 
the holy Son of man. He never was found in 
a place where His dignity as a pure and holy 
character was compromised. 

The arguments presented in the chapters of 

242 


CHRISTIAN ETHICS 


this book on The Program and the Present Age 
and on Christ and the Social Order are suf¬ 
ficient to decide the attitude a Christian 
should assume toward the question of modern 
amusements. In the light of all that he is as a 
regenerated son of God what has he to do with 
dancing, card-playing, theaters, movies, etc.? 
The world demands amusement and entertain¬ 
ment and diversion, for they have nothing else 
to quiet their consciences and soothe their 
troubled spirits. But “the ransomed of Jeho¬ 
vah shall return, and come with singing unto 
Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their 
heads: and they shall obtain gladness and joy, 
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away” (Isa. 
35:10). 


SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

Define Ethics. Distinguish between secular and 
Christian morality. In what way is the body re¬ 
lated to the question of ethics? Discuss the ethics 
of personal adornment. Define a Scriptural Chris¬ 
tian socialism. How may the teachings of Jesus 
be applied to modern labor conditions? Discuss 
the principle of secrecy in its relation to Christian 
ethics. What is the relation of a Christian to the 
social life? 


243 


“If I had eaten my morsel alone!” 

The patriarch spoke in scorn; 

What would he think of the Church 
Were he shown heathendom, huge, forlorn; 
Godless and Christless, with soul unfed, 

While the Church's ailment is fulness of bread, 
Eating her morsel alonet 

“I am debtor alike to the Jew and the Greek” 
The mighty apostle cried, 

Traversing continents souls to seek, 

For the love of the Crucified. 

Nineteen centuries since have sped; 

Millions are perishing; we have bread, 

And we eat our morsel alone. 

And ever of them that have largest dower 
Shall heaven require the more; 

Ours is knowledge, affluence, power, 

Ocean from shore to shore. 

While East and West in our ears have said, 
“Give us, oh, give us your Living Bread!” 

And we eat our morsel alone! 

“Freely as ye have received, so give,” 

Bade He who hath given us all. 

How can the soul in us longer live 
Deaf to the starving call? 

For whom the blood of the Lord was shed, 
And His body broken to give them bread, 

If we eat our morsel alone. — Selected . 


244 


CHAPTER X 


THE TRANSFERRED GLORY 

It was midnight in the Holy City. From the 
late afternoon a small company of men had 
been together in an upper room. In that un- 
known room and in those momentous hours 
was consummated a symbolical national relig¬ 
ious ceremony which had been observed for fif¬ 
teen hundred years—the Feast of the Pass- 
over; there was inaugurated a memorial cere¬ 
mony which has become the most significant 
universal religious act in the world—The 
Lord’s Supper; there was performed the most 
remarkable teaching object lesson on the na¬ 
ture of Christian service and humility ever 
given by the Master Teacher—His washing the 
feet of His disciples; there was poured into the 
hearts and minds of these men, humbled, 
melted and sympathetic through this astonish¬ 
ing act, the most comforting, illuminating and 
transforming message delivered by this Mas¬ 
ter Teacher—the message recorded in the four¬ 
teenth, fifteenth and sixteenth chapters of 

245 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


John’s Gospel. Then this whole series of un¬ 
paralleled incidents culminated in a prayer— 
a prayer born in the travail of desire for these 
men that they might catch the vision of The 
Divine Program for them. Step by step the 
Divine Intercessor rose in the startling com¬ 
pass of the successive petitions until the cli¬ 
max was reached in the following words: 
“And the glory which thou hast given me I 
have given unto them: that they may be one, 
even as we are one; I in them, and thou in me, 
that they may be perfected into one; that the 
world may know that thou didst send me, and 
lovedst them, even as thou lovedst me” (John 
17:22, 23). 

The Transferred Glory. These words just 
quoted are not mystical. Transcendant in 
vision and overwhelming in bestowed respon¬ 
sibility as they are, yet the meaning is pain¬ 
fully clear. Jesus was not referring to that 
inherent glory which was His by eternal right, 
but a glory bestowed upon Him to be trans¬ 
ferred to others in turn. What was that 
glory? 1. It was the glory of sonship. “But 
as many as received him, to them gave he the 
right to become children of God” (John 1: 
12). 2. It was the glory of grace and truth. 

246 


THE TRANSFERRED GLORY 


“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt 
among us (and we beheld his glory, glory as 
of the only begotten from the Father), full of 
grace and truth.... For of his fulness we all 
received and grace for grace’’ (John 1:14- 
16). 3. It was the glory of sacrificial suffer¬ 
ing. “I have given them thy word; and the 
world hated them, because they are not of the 
world, even as I am not of the world” (John 
17:14), therefore, “if children, then heirs; 
heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if so 
be that we suffer with him, that we may be also 
glorified with him” (Rom. 8:17). 4. It was 
the glory of union with the divine. “Neither 
for these alone do I pray, but for them also 
that believe on me through their word; that 
they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art 
in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in 
us: that the world may believe that thou didst 
send me” (John 17:20,21). 5. It was the 

glory of a definite task. “I glorified thee on 
the earth, having accomplished the work which 
thou hast given me to do.... As thou didst 
send me into the world, even so sent I them 
into the world” (John 17 : 4,18). 

In these five points are summarized the es¬ 
sential points of The Divine Program for the 

247 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


church in this age. Sonship, righteousness, 
sacrifice, union with the divine, commission to 
definite service—these are the earth-marks of 
the true church which is to function in the 
world as the herald of the coming kingdom. 
The conclusion is tremendously overwhelming, 
yet inevitable. The culminating glory trans¬ 
ferred by Christ to His body, the church, is the 
glory of that positive “Go ye.” All of the 
privileges of sonship and conferred purity and 
power combine to place upon each Christian 
the major responsibility of unconditional, un¬ 
reserved, whole-hearted obedience to his Lord 
—an obedience expressed in a service which 
must be patterned after the obedience and ser¬ 
vice rendered by Christ to His Father (John 
15 : 7 - 11 ). 

The Glory of Stewardship. 1 . The steward¬ 
ship of life. The underlying argument of the 
preceding chapters of this book rests upon the 
fundamental truth of revelation that God seeks 
an order of sons who are sons in very truth. 
Christ fixed the standard of sonship at un¬ 
questioned obedience and unreserved service. 
Redemption bought the whole man. No Chris¬ 
tian can lay prior claim upon his time or 
strength or profession or trade and make his 

248 


THE TRANSFERRED GLORY 


religions life and service a minor consideration. 
What he has—time, strength, talent, influence, 
property—is his as a trustee. He holds it in 
trust and capitalizes it, not for his own con¬ 
venience, comfort or enlargement, but for his 
Lord whose he is, and whom he serves. Any¬ 
thing less than this is robbery. “Ye are not 
your own; for ye were bought with a price” 
(1 Cor. 6:19,20). 

2. The stewardship of property. Emphasis 
has been placed upon the universal kingdom 
of God and the delegation of dominion privi¬ 
leges to man (Gen. 1:28). A careful analysis 
of this commission reveals the startling fact 
that while man was made master over the phy¬ 
sical and animal creation, the original title to 
the earth was not passed by Jehovah. Man 
was given the use of it; he was made the care¬ 
taker, but was not given original titleship. The 
Bible enumerates the following specific items 
as God’s property: land, sea, rivers, gold, sil¬ 
ver, snow, frost, sunshine, wind and rain. The 
essential item in property rights is personal¬ 
ity. Dead men and idiots can not hold prop¬ 
erty. God’s sovereign ownership rests upon 
His personality. Hence, original property 
rights, plus the claim levied through redemp- 

249 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


tion, obligates the Christian to hold and use 
his property for God. If he tithes, the nine- 
tenths remaining is not his own to use as he 
will, but is still God’s property to be held and 
used in trust for Him. 

“A man and his money—how shall the two 
be related? In terms of ownership or of stew¬ 
ardship ? ” If in terms of ownership, then the 
very essence of the gospel is denied. If in 
terms of stewardship, then the transferred 
glory of Christ becomes the sesame to reveal 
to the world His Saviorhood. The very heart 
of the stewardship message was voiced by Da¬ 
vid Livingstone when he said: “I will place 
no value on anything I have or may possess, 
except in relation to the kingdom of Christ. If 
anything I have will advance the interests of 
that kingdom, it shall be given away or kept 
only as by giving or keeping it I may promote 
the glory of Him to whom I owe all my hopes 
in time and in eternity.” These words do not 
represent the exclusive minority who conse¬ 
crate themselves to some isolated task, but it 
is the expression of that consistent, loyal devo¬ 
tion which Christ expects of each one of His 
disciples. 

3. The stewardship of prayer. “When they 

250 


THE TRANSFERRED GLORY 


had prayed, the place was shaken wherein they 
were gathered together” (Acts 4:31). “Noth¬ 
ing hut the vision of God can stir the church 
as these early disciples were moved. They felt 
the burden of need; they saw the wounds of 
Christ; they looked upon the mighty works of 
God. ‘ 1 Is this not what we need ? Is it not such 
a new discovery of God, such a new obedience, 
such expanding plans and such a daring faith 
that new measures of God’s power shall be re¬ 
leased? We need to be shaken so that choked 
channels may be opened; small ones riven 
where none are now; channels big enough for 
God and big enough for this hour. When they 
had prayed they were shaken .”—William E. 
Doughty. 

The Glory of the Definite Task. The earthly 
life-work of Jesus Christ moved forward to a 
definite objective. He was ever impelled by 
the urge of the task to be accomplished. Hand¬ 
icaps were thrown across His path, difficulties 
beset His course, indifference and inefficiency 
of helpers grieved His spirit, opposition and 
persecution raised barriers against Him, but 
through it all He pressed to finish His whole 
task. At that point where He could look His 
Father in the face and say, “I have finished 

251 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


the work which thou gavest me to do,” He 
turned to His followers and transferred the 
glory of a definite task to them, and to us, say¬ 
ing “that repentance and remission of sins 
should be preached in his name unto all the na¬ 
tions, beginning from Jerusalem” (Luke 24: 
47). The church of Jesus Christ has just one 
major responsibility, and that is to witness ‘ ‘ of 
these things.” She has no other apology for 
an existence. This is her task. Shall it be her 
glory or her shame ? 

The Scope of the Task. Jesus said the “field 
is the world” (Matt. 13:38). Men talk about 
home and foreign missions, the home church 
and the foreign church. There is no “here nor 
there, no near nor far” in the field of human 
need. There are no continental boundary lines 
in the compassion of God. There are no racial 
favorites in the benefits of the vicarious atone¬ 
ment. By the grace of God Christ tasted death 
for every man. The city of God lieth four¬ 
square, with an equal number of gates to the 
four points of the compass. “The field is the 
world. ’ ’ 

If a man owns a section of land, does he buy 
costly fertilizer, the most scientific machinery 
and the highest salaried agricultural expert to 

252 


THE TRANSFERRED GLORY 


beautify the lawn and to farm the five or ten 
acres of garden and orchard which surround 
his house and leave the outermost and farther¬ 
most acres to grow up with rosinweed, wild 
mustard, and sandburs? Is not the distant 
forty or eighty or quarter just as much a part 
of his farm as the portion adjacent to his 
home ? His whole task as a farmer is his whole 
field. The whole task of the church as Christ’s 
body is the whole field. Jesus said, 4 ‘Into all 
the world.” The church has been saying, “My 
garden and my orchard are all I can care for. ’ ’ 
Jesus said: “The whole field.” The church 
has been saying, “Home responsibilities first.” 
Jesus said: ‘ ‘ Unto all the nations. ’ The church 
has been saying, “Only the nearest and the 
choicest by racial inheritance.” Jesus said, 
“Occupy till I come.” The church has been 
saying, “While the bridegroom tarries let us 
slumber and sleep.” 

The Challenge of the Task. The best of pa¬ 
gan philosophy has had its opportunity—and 
failed. The best of pagan culture has had its 
opportunity—and failed. The best of religious 
reflection and meditation has had its oppor¬ 
tunity—and failed. The best of civil law and 
order has had its opportunity—and failed. 

253 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


The best of literature and art has had its op¬ 
portunity—and failed. The best of militarism 
has had its opportunity—and failed. Science 
is in the midday splendor of its glory—and has 
supplied the nations with deadly gases, invis¬ 
ible poisons and powerful explosives for the 
holocaust of war. The world is still hungry for 
bread; but its deepest hunger is for God. The 
world is still sick; but its most grievous mal¬ 
ady is the leprosy of sin. The world is still 
crying for peace among nations; but its most 
pressing need is peace with God. Mankind 
still needs a Savior. Jesus Christ is the one 
and only Savior- 

The challenge of the task! Jesus said, “Un¬ 
to all nations.” Tibet, Afghanistan, Nepal 
and Bhutan still forbid the preaching of the 
gospel. There are more non-Christians in the 
world to-day than ever before. In 1820 the 
population of the non-Christian lands (Asia, 
Africa, Oceanica) was estimated at six hun¬ 
dred million with five million Christians. In 
1920 the non-Christian population in the same 
area was estimated at 1,125,000,000 with fifty 
million professed Christians. In other words, 
after one hundred years of missionary activ¬ 
ity, the number of professed Christians has in- 

254 


THE TRANSFERRED GLORY 


creased tenfold, while the population has prac¬ 
tically doubled. 

The challenge of the task! The most con¬ 
servative estimates fix the number of people in 
the non-Christian lands to-day who are abso¬ 
lutely untouched by missionary effort at one 
hundred sixty million. This does not include 
areas which are so inadequately manned that 
multitudes are practically untouched, but those 
areas where there are no missionaries at all. 
There are thirty-five million in China, twenty- 
six million in Central Africa, twelve million in 
Tibet, Turkestan and Mongolia, twelve million 
in Afghanistan, Nepal and Bhutan, who have 
never so much as heard of Christ as a Savior. 
Add to these the millions of Latin America, 
the Near East, Central and Southeastern Asia 
and consider that nearly two-thirds of the 
world is enslaved by false religions which have 
no power to deliver from sin, and you have 
some conception of the startling challenge of 
the task. 

The challenge of the task! The United 
States Commissioner of Education estimates 
that during the year 1920 this nation spent 
$22,700,000,000 for joy-riding automobiles, 
luxurious living, tobacco, jewelry and other un- 

255 


THE DIVINE PROGRAM 


necessary expenses, while, during the same 
period the American church gave $37,886,040 
for foreign missions — six hundred dollars 
spent for luxuries for each dollar given to evan¬ 
gelize the world! In the light of The Divine 
Program; in the exalted conception of the 
transferred glory; in the unconditional sweep 
of the Savior’s command; in the staggering 
vision of the present world need; the challenge 
of the task narrows to this burning problem: 
How can the church save her own soul with - 
out making the evangelization of the world 
her major responsibility? 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

Describe the events of the night of the Passover 
feast which Jesus observed with His disciples. What 
five things did Jesus receive and in turn transfer 
to His followers? Define stewardship. What is 
its relation to the nurture of the spiritual life? Name 
and discuss the three points of stewardship. What 
definite task did Jesus transfer to His followers? 
What is the scope of that task? What is its chal¬ 
lenge? How does looking upon the untouched fields 
of the world nurture the Christian life? 


256 



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